Establishment of 50 Milch Animals Dairy Unit

What is the Establishment of 50 Milch Animals Dairy Unit scheme?

Establishment of 50 Milch Animals Dairy Unit is a Gujarat state scheme of the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Cooperation Department, delivered through the Directorate of Animal Husbandry and applied for on the i-Khedut portal. The scheme helps a livestock farmer move from a household herd of two or three animals to a commercial dairy unit of 50 milch animals by cutting the cost of the bank loan, the cattle shed, the insurance cover and the core equipment.

Gujarat's dairy economy is built on co-operative milk procurement, and the state has a clear interest in raising the number of medium-sized organised units that can supply milk reliably. This scheme is one of the instruments for that. It is not a cash handout, every component is tied to actual expenditure, and the largest benefit only exists if the applicant borrows from a bank.

The four benefit components

• Interest subsidy: 7.5% interest subsidy for up to 5 years on the bank loan taken to purchase 50 dairy animals.
• Shed construction: 50% subsidy on actual expenditure, up to Rs 5,00,000.
• Animal insurance: 75% subsidy on a three-year premium, up to Rs 1,80,000.
• Equipment assistance: 75% subsidy on an electric chaff cutter (up to Rs 30,000), a fogger system (up to Rs 22,500) and a milking machine (up to Rs 56,250).

Taken together, the capital-side subsidies alone can exceed Rs 7,80,000 before the interest subsidy is counted, which makes this one of the larger individual benefits offered on the animal husbandry side of i-Khedut.

Who is eligible for the 50 milch animals dairy scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a livestock farmer in Gujarat.
• You will purchase 50 dairy animals, cows or buffaloes, for the unit.
• You are establishing a new dairy farm, not expanding an old one.
• You hold ownership rights, inheritance rights or leasehold rights over the land where the farm will stand. Where the beneficiary does not own land, the dairy farm may be established on land leased for a minimum of 7 years.
• You take a loan from a Reserve Bank of India recognised institution or bank.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You plan a unit smaller than 50 animals. Other i-Khedut components cover 2-animal, 10-animal and 20-animal units; this one is written specifically for

• You want to expand an existing dairy farm rather than establish a new one.
• You have no land right at all — neither ownership, nor inheritance, nor a lease of at least 7 years.
• You intend to self-finance the whole unit with no bank loan, because the central benefit is an interest subsidy that has nothing to attach to.
• You borrow from a moneylender or an unrecognised financier instead of an RBI-recognised institution.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the 50 milch animals dairy unit scheme

1. Visit the i-Khedut portal at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in and complete the one-time beneficiary registration if you are new to i-Khedut 2.0. The Aadhaar verification OTP is sent only to the mobile number linked to your Aadhaar.
2. On the home page click Schemes, then Animal Husbandry Schemes.
3. Select the 50 milch animals dairy unit scheme and click Apply to open the application page.
4. Click Apply New and complete the form with your personal details, land details, proposed herd size, loan details and bank account.
5. Use Update Application to correct anything before the form is locked.
6. Confirm the application. An application left unconfirmed is not forwarded for scrutiny.
7. Take a printout of the confirmed application and submit it with the supporting documents to the concerned taluka office.
8. Check status any time through the Applicant Corner at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in/public/frm_Applicant_Corner.aspx, which also lets you upload documents and reprint the form.

How does the money reach me?

Subsidy under the scheme is credited directly into the beneficiary's bank account. The interest subsidy component works differently from the capital subsidies: it is calculated against the interest actually charged on the sanctioned dairy loan and runs for a maximum of five years, so it is released against loan servicing rather than in a single instalment. The shed, insurance and equipment subsidies are reimbursements of expenditure, which means the construction, the policy and the purchase come first, and the claim with bills follows.

Sequencing matters here. A farmer who builds the shed and buys animals before the application is sanctioned takes the risk that the claim is not approved. The safer order is registration on i-Khedut, application in an open window, sanction and loan tie-up, then construction and purchase against bills.

What is the i-Khedut beneficiary registration?

Since the move to i-Khedut 2.0, the portal requires every beneficiary to complete a one-time registration before any scheme application can be filed. The portal's own notice states that registration is compulsory for availing the benefit of a scheme, and that the Aadhaar verification OTP is sent only to the mobile number linked with Aadhaar. A separate company registration route exists on the same portal for manufacturers and dealers, and i-Khedut publishes an applicant registration user manual for farmers doing it themselves.

For this dairy scheme the registration matters more than usual, because the application asks for land, loan and project details together. Registering early, well before the window opens, leaves time to fix an Aadhaar-mobile mismatch at an Aadhaar Seva Kendra. A fix that cannot be done on i-Khedut and that has stopped many otherwise complete applications.

When can I apply?

The i-Khedut portal opens scheme-wise application windows for limited periods rather than accepting applications all year. The Animal Husbandry Schemes list shows which components are live on a given day. No permanent last date is published for this scheme, so check ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in before planning the unit, and get the bank conversation started early; arranging a loan sanction for a 50-animal unit usually takes longer than the portal window stays open.

Why applications for this scheme get rejected

• Application not confirmed on i-Khedut before the window closed.
• Printout and documents not delivered to the taluka office.
• No valid land right. A lease shorter than 7 years is a common defect.
• Loan not sanctioned or taken from a lender outside the RBI-recognised list, which makes the interest subsidy unpayable.
• Unit size other than 50 animals, which puts the application in the wrong component.
• Bills missing or in another person's name for the shed, equipment or insurance.
• Bank account mismatch, wrong IFSC or an account not in the applicant's name.

Where do I get help or file a grievance?

The first point of contact is the taluka-level animal husbandry office where you submit the printed application, followed by the District Animal Husbandry Officer. The i-Khedut public contacts page at ikhedut.gujarat.gov.in/Public/frm_Public_Contacts.aspx lists office contacts for each district, and departmental scheme guidelines are published on agri.gujarat.gov.in.

Applying on i-Khedut is free. No agent is authorised to charge for adding a name to the beneficiary list, and no officer will ask for your Aadhaar OTP.