Biponi Scheme

What is the Biponi scheme?

Biponi is a marketing support scheme of the Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Assam, implemented through the Commissionerate of Industries & Commerce and the District Industries & Commerce Centres. The stated objective of the scheme is to support micro and small enterprises to participate in different trade fairs and events within the state, elsewhere in the country and abroad, so that they can market their products and gain exposure.

The problem Biponi addresses is specific. A small artisan unit or food-processing enterprise in an Assam district may produce well but rarely gets in front of buyers outside its immediate area, because a stall at a fair costs money before it earns any. Biponi removes that upfront barrier by paying the stall rent, the fare to get there, and a daily allowance for the days spent at the fair.

The name is commonly transliterated as Biponi Yojana. Biponi sits alongside the Industries & Commerce Department's other micro-sector schemes such as Boneej, which supports rural traditional units with a production grant. Where Boneej pays for machinery and raw materials, Biponi pays for reaching the market.

How much assistance does Biponi give?

The assistance is graded by where the fair is held.

Fairs and exhibitions within Assam

• Stall rent: up to Rs 5,000 maximum.
• Daily allowance of Rs 500 per day for participants travelling from other districts, covering travel, food and lodging.

Fairs outside Assam, elsewhere in India

• Stall rent: 50 per cent reimbursement, subject to a ceiling of Rs 10,000.
• Railway fare in sleeper class for two persons.
• Daily allowance of Rs 300 per person per day.

International fairs

• Stall space free of cost, on a shared basis.
• Economy class airfare for one person.
• Daily allowance of Rs 1,000 per person per day.

For state-level events, 100 participants are selected across Assam. The scheme also covers the travel cost of departmental officers when they accompany participants, and funds the departmental brochures and publicity material used at the fair. These are administrative components rather than benefits an enterprise can claim.

Who is eligible for the Biponi scheme?

You can apply if:

• Your unit is a micro or small enterprise located in Assam.
• You produce goods that can be exhibited and sold at a fair, exhibition or mela, handicraft, handloom, food products, bamboo and cane goods, and similar micro-sector output are the natural fit.
• You are participating in an event identified by the General Manager of your District Industries & Commerce Centre, or in an out-of-state or international fair for which you seek support.
• Your unit's product quality and, where relevant, its performance at earlier fairs stand up to comparison, because these are the stated selection criteria.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are not a micro or small enterprise. Medium and large units are outside the scheme's target group.
• You are an individual visitor, buyer or trader rather than a producing enterprise. Biponi funds exhibitors, not attendance.
• You are claiming for a fair you did not actually participate in, or cannot produce the stall rent receipt and travel tickets.
• Your unit is located outside Assam.
• You want the money as a general business subsidy. Biponi assistance is tied to a specific event and specific expenditure heads: stall rent, fare and daily allowance.

Which events are covered inside Assam?

Biponi does not maintain a fixed statewide calendar. The General Manager of each District Industries & Commerce Centre identifies the important events and exhibitions held within the district where large numbers of visitors gather. The scheme documentation gives examples of the kind of event intended, Rash Mohotsav at Nalbari, the annual events of the Asom Sahitya Sabha, the annual events of the Bodo Sahitya Sabha and various other cultural gatherings. In practice this means the list is district-specific and refreshed each year, which is why the DICC is the office to ask rather than a central portal.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Biponi scheme

1. Identify the fair. Ask the General Manager of your District Industries & Commerce Centre which events in the district have been identified for the year, or approach the DICC with details of the out-of-state or international fair you want to attend.
2. Obtain the scheme application form from the DICC office, or download it where the district makes it available.
3. Fill the application in the prescribed format, giving your enterprise details, registration number, the products you propose to exhibit, the event name and dates, and the stall rent demanded by the organiser.
4. Attach the supporting documents, enterprise registration, product details and photographs, the invitation or stall allotment letter, and a copy of the first page of your bank passbook.
5. Submit the completed form with enclosures to the District Industries and Commerce Centre of your district, and keep the acknowledgement.
6. Attend the fair and keep every receipt. The stall rent receipt and the travel tickets are what convert an approval into an actual payment, particularly for the 50 per cent out-of-state stall rent claim.
7. Submit the claim with receipts to the DICC after the event so that stall rent, fare and daily allowance can be released to your bank account.

How to check the status of a Biponi application

Biponi has no online tracker. The District Industries & Commerce Centre that received the application holds the file and can tell you whether your unit has been included in the list of participants for a given event. Above the DICC, the Commissionerate of Industries & Commerce, Assam administers the scheme and publishes the guidelines. Because participation is against a limited number of slots — 100 participants for state-level events, it helps to apply well before the fair date rather than in the week of the event.

Why Biponi claims get rejected or reduced

• Applying after the fair is over. Selection has to happen before participation, since stall allotment and travel are being supported.
• No stall rent receipt. The out-of-state benefit is a 50 per cent reimbursement, so a receipt is essential and the claim cannot exceed Rs 10,000.
• Claiming full stall rent for an out-of-state fair. Only half the rent is reimbursed, and only up to the ceiling.
• More than the permitted number of travellers. Rail fare is for two persons for out-of-state fairs; international airfare is for one person only.
• Unit not registered as a micro or small enterprise, or unable to produce the registration document.
• Slots already filled for that event, since the number of supported participants is limited.

Key dates and windows

Biponi does not run on a single annual deadline. Applications are invited event by event, ahead of each fair identified by the district. The practical timeline is set by the fair itself: identify the event, apply to the DICC before stall allotment closes, participate, then claim. Enterprises planning for a large national fair should start at the DICC several weeks in advance, because sanction has to precede travel for the fare component to be payable.

Help and grievance route

• General Manager, District Industries & Commerce Centre of your district, the office that receives Biponi applications and identifies eligible events.
• Commissionerate of Industries & Commerce, Assam, Udyog Bhawan, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati 781021, the state-level authority that publishes the Biponi scheme and guidelines.
• Industries & Commerce Department, Government of Assam; industries.assam.gov.in.

There is no fee for applying under Biponi, and no agent is authorised to charge an enterprise for securing a stall or an allowance under the scheme. Selection is made on product quality and past fair performance by the department, and the money is paid against receipts.