Scheme to Provide Assistance to State Market Committees as well as Taluka-District Co-operative Purchase and Sale Union to Construct Large Size Warehouse Godowns

What is this godown assistance scheme?

The Scheme to Provide Assistance to State Market Committees as well as Taluka-District Co-operative Purchase and Sale Unions to Construct Large Size Warehouse Godowns is run by the Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department, Government of Gujarat, with implementation through the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board (GSAMB). It is a capital grant to institutions, not a benefit paid to a person.

The problem it addresses is the oldest one in Indian agricultural marketing. A cotton or groundnut crop arrives at the market yard in a rush of a few weeks, the price falls precisely when the largest volume is on offer, and a farmer with no storage has no choice but to sell into that trough. Storage capacity attached to the regulated market lets produce be held and sold later, and it is the market committee or the co-operative purchase-sale union; not the individual farmer, that can realistically build it.

What the scheme pays

• Rs 6,500 per metric tonne of godown capacity constructed.
• Subject to a ceiling of 50% of the project cost.
• For godowns of up to 5,000 metric tonnes capacity.

At the full 5,000 tonne size, the per-tonne rate works out to Rs 3.25 crore, which is payable only if that amount does not exceed half the project cost. The balance of the cost is borne by the market committee or the union from its own funds or borrowing. A godown built under the scheme must be used exclusively for the storage of farmers' produce.

Who is eligible, and who is not eligible?

Eligible applicants

• Agricultural Produce Market Committees in Gujarat, constituted under the Gujarat Agricultural Produce Markets Act, 1963. All state market committees are eligible.
• Taluka level and district level co-operative purchase and sale unions, registered under the co-operative societies law.

Who cannot apply

• Individual farmers cannot apply. There is no personal application, no registration and no payment to a farmer under this scheme. A farmer benefits by storing produce in the completed godown on the terms the committee sets.
• Private traders, commission agents and private warehousing companies are not eligible applicants.
• Farmer producer organisations and primary agricultural credit societies are not the applicants named in this scheme; other central and state warehousing schemes serve them.
• A proposal for a godown that will be used for anything other than storing farmers' produce is outside the scheme, since exclusive use is a stated condition.
• A proposal for capacity above 5,000 metric tonnes falls outside the published scale, and capacity beyond that limit will not attract the per-tonne assistance.
• An institution that cannot show ownership or secure possession of the land cannot proceed, because the grant funds a permanent structure.

What documents does a proposal need?

Further documents may be sought during scrutiny, which is normal for a construction grant.

How to apply for godown assistance

1. Identify the land. The market committee or the union first identifies the land on which the godown will be constructed, and establishes ownership or secure possession of it.
2. Pass the resolution and get designs prepared. Approved panel engineers prepare the design and the cost estimate. Capacity must be stated in metric tonnes, because the assistance is calculated per tonne.
3. Submit the proposal for approval, with the project report, maps, estimates, land papers and the institution's registration documents, to the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board and the Director, for departmental approval before construction is taken up.
4. Take up implementation under GSAMB supervision. The Managing Director of the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board oversees implementation of the work.
5. Award the work through e-tendering to a government-approved contractor in classes AA to D, and keep the complete tender record, which forms part of the documentation.
6. Construct the godown and file the claim with measurement books, bills, the completion certificate and evidence that the capacity built matches the sanction, so the per-tonne assistance can be computed and released.

How is the assistance calculated and released?

The calculation has two steps and the lower figure wins. First, capacity in metric tonnes is multiplied by Rs 6,500. Second, that figure is tested against 50% of the project cost. Whichever is lower is the assistance payable. A 2,000 tonne godown, for example, attracts Rs 1.3 crore on the per-tonne rate, but only if the appraised project cost is at least Rs 2.6 crore; below that, the 50% test binds instead.

Because the grant is tied to construction, release follows verified progress and completion rather than being paid up front. The e-tendering requirement and the restriction to government-approved contractor classes exist to keep the cost defensible, since an inflated project cost would otherwise inflate the 50% limb of the calculation.

How does a market committee check on a pending proposal?

1. Follow up with the Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board office at Sector 10-A, Gandhinagar, quoting the proposal reference.
2. Ask the Deputy Director and District Registrar of Co-operative Societies in the district about the district-level stage of a purchase-sale union proposal.
3. Escalate to the Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance, Block No. 13, 2nd Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar, on 079-23253950.

Why proposals get held up

• Unclear land title or possession that cannot be evidenced.
• Capacity not stated in metric tonnes, which makes the per-tonne calculation impossible.
• Estimates not prepared by an approved panel engineer.
• Work awarded without e-tendering, or to a contractor outside the approved classes.
• Construction started before approval, leaving expenditure outside the sanction.
• Proposed use beyond storage of farmers' produce, such as commercial letting to traders, which breaches the exclusive-use condition.

Where to get help

• Gujarat State Agricultural Marketing Board, Sector 10-A, Gandhinagar — 079-23254006 to 079-23254009.
• Director of Agricultural Marketing and Rural Finance, Block No. 13, 2nd Floor, Dr. Jivraj Mehta Bhavan, Gandhinagar to 079-23253950, email director.apmc2018@gmail.com.
• Agriculture, Farmers Welfare and Co-operation Department at agri.gujarat.gov.in for the scheme listing and departmental contacts.
• District Registrar of Co-operative Societies for a taluka or district co-operative purchase and sale union proposal.

This is an institutional infrastructure scheme. No individual receives money under it, and any offer to arrange a personal godown grant in its name should be treated as fraudulent.