Facilitation of Large Size Godowns in APMC and Taluka-District Purchase Sale Union (General)

What is the Facilitation of Large Size Godowns scheme?

Facilitation of Large Size Godowns in APMC and Taluka-District Purchase Sale Union is a state-funded infrastructure scheme of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat. The scheme gives capital assistance to two kinds of institution that sit between the farmer and the market: Agricultural Produce Market Committees, the statutory bodies that run Gujarat's regulated market yards, and taluka and district level co-operative purchase and sale unions, the co-operatives that buy inputs and market produce on behalf of village societies.

The scheme is implemented by the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board (GSAMB), the apex body for agricultural marketing in the state, which operates from Block-19, second floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar. The "(General)" in the scheme name distinguishes it from the parallel version reserved for institutions in Gujarat's designated tribal areas, which carries its own budget line.

The problem the scheme addresses is distress selling. Groundnut, cotton, cumin, castor and other Gujarat commodities arrive at the yard in a narrow window after harvest, prices sag under the weight of arrivals, and a farmer without storage has to sell into that weakness. Warehouse capacity attached to the market yard lets produce be held and sold later, and also lets the farmer pledge stored stock for a warehouse-receipt loan instead of selling outright.

How much assistance does the scheme provide?

The scheme provides Rs 6,500 per metric tonne of created storage capacity, subject to a hard ceiling of 50% of the total project cost, for godowns with a capacity of up to 5,000 metric tonnes.

Both limits bite, and the lower of the two applies:

• A 2,000 tonne godown attracts Rs 1.30 crore on the per-tonne calculation. If the project cost is Rs 3 crore, half of it is Rs 1.50 crore, so the full Rs 1.30 crore is payable.
• A 5,000 tonne godown attracts Rs 3.25 crore on the per-tonne calculation. If the project cost is only Rs 5 crore, the 50% cap of Rs 2.50 crore applies instead, and the institution receives Rs 2.50 crore.

The remaining cost is the institution's responsibility, met from its own reserves, from market cess accruals in the case of an APMC, or from a term loan through the district central co-operative bank.

Who is eligible, and who is not eligible?

Institutions that can apply:

• Agricultural Produce Market Committees constituted under the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, operating a regulated market yard.
• Taluka level co-operative purchase and sale unions, registered under the Gujarat Co-operative Societies Act.
• District level co-operative purchase and sale unions, similarly registered and in good standing.

An applicant institution is normally expected to hold clear title to the land on which the godown will stand, to be up to date on its audit, and to be able to demonstrate that it can fund its share of the cost.

Who is not eligible:

• Individual farmers cannot apply. This is not a farmer subsidy and there is no personal benefit to claim. A farmer wanting an on-farm storage structure should look at the separate farm-level storage components on the iKhedut portal instead.
• Private warehousing companies, traders and commission agents cannot apply. The scheme funds co-operative and statutory market institutions only.
• Farmer producer organisations registered as companies are outside the stated beneficiary list for this particular scheme, though other central and state schemes cover them.
• Institutions in designated tribal areas should apply under the tribal version of the scheme, which is separately budgeted, rather than under the General version.
• Institutions whose accounts are in arrears, that are under supersession, or that have defaulted on an earlier grant are normally not considered.

What documents are needed?

How to apply for large size godown assistance

1. Pass a resolution in the APMC board or the managing committee of the purchase-sale union approving the godown, its capacity in metric tonnes and the estimated cost, and authorising a named officer to file the proposal.
2. Get a detailed project report and technical estimate prepared by a qualified engineer, with the site plan, structural design, capacity calculation and phased cost.
3. Assemble the annexures — land title documents, registration certificate and bye-laws, last three years of audited accounts, and a statement of how the institution's own 50% share will be funded.
4. Route the proposal through the district registrar of co-operative societies for a purchase-sale union, or through the market committee's administrative channel for an APMC, so that it reaches the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board with the district endorsement on file.
5. Submit the file to GSAMB at Block-19, second floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, and obtain an inward acknowledgement with the file number.
6. Respond to technical scrutiny. GSAMB engineers examine the design, capacity and cost, and may ask for revisions before the proposal is placed for administrative approval.
7. Start construction only after the sanction order is issued. Expenditure incurred before sanction is generally not reimbursable.
8. Claim assistance against verified progress, submitting measurement books, bills and completion certificates as each stage is finished.

How to check the status of a proposal

There is no self-service status tracker for this scheme. Follow up with the inward file number at the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board on 079-2325 4006 to 079-2325 4009, and in parallel with the district registrar's office that endorsed the file. Institutions should keep a copy of every submission, since the sanctioning process runs through physical files and progress is checked at each release rather than continuously.

Why proposals get rejected or held up

• Capacity above the 5,000 tonne limit, which puts the project outside the scheme's scope for the excess.
• Unclear land title, the single most common reason a co-operative godown file stalls. Encumbrances, disputed boundaries and unregistered leases all cause delay.
• Inflated or unsupported cost estimates, which are reduced on technical scrutiny and shrink the eligible grant.
• Audit arrears or an unresolved audit objection against the institution.
• Construction begun before sanction, which forfeits assistance on the work already done.
• No credible plan for the institution's own 50% share.

Key dates and grievance route

The scheme runs on the state financial year, 1 April to 31 March, and proposals are considered against the annual budget provision, so an institution that files late in the year may be carried to the next year's allocation. No fixed last date has been announced for filing.

Grievances go first to the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board at Block-19, second floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, on the numbers above. Unresolved matters can be taken up with the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department through the department's page at agri.gujarat.gov.in, and co-operative governance issues with the Registrar of Co-operative Societies for the district.