Rashtriya Gokul Mission — Interest Subvention on Loans for High Genetic Merit (HGM) Heifers

What is the RGM interest subvention on high genetic merit heifers?

Rashtriya Gokul Mission (RGM), run by the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) under the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, added a credit-side component in its revised operational guidelines of 4 June 2025: a 3% interest subvention on loans taken by farmers to buy High Genetic Merit (HGM) IVF-born heifers.

The reason for the component is straightforward. RGM has spent years building supply, Breed Multiplication Farms, IVF labs, and now Heifer Rearing Centres that rear 500 heifers each and impregnate them with sex-sorted-semen IVF embryos. An elite pregnant heifer, however, costs far more than an ordinary local animal, and an ordinary dairy farmer cannot pay that price out of pocket. The interest subvention lowers the cost of borrowing so those animals actually move from the rearing centres into farmers' sheds.

According to the DAHD portal, the component provides 3% interest subvention on loan taken by the farmer from milk unions, financial institutions or banks for induction of high genetic merit IVF-born heifers. It is one of only three RGM components that are not on 100% grant-in-aid, the other two being the sex-sorted semen assistance of up to 50% of cost and the 35% Heifer Rearing Centre capital assistance.

Rashtriya Gokul Mission is operational, the Union Budget 2026-27 provides Rs 800 crore for it, and this component is implemented by DAHD through SIDBI and NABARD.

Who is eligible for the 3% interest subvention?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer anywhere in India engaged in dairying or interested in taking up dairying. The scheme runs in all states and union territories.
• You are buying High Genetic Merit heifers produced through IVF technology.
• The animals come from a Heifer Rearing Centre or from a Breed Multiplication Farm already set up under RGM.
• You are financing them with a loan from a scheduled bank, milk union, NCDC, an NBFC or a similar lending institution.
• You are claiming for not more than 6 heifers, which is the per-farmer cap.
• You keep the loan account regular. The guidelines state plainly that a beneficiary who defaults on repayment in any given year does not get the subvention for that year.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are buying ordinary market animals. Only IVF-produced HGM animals from RGM-linked centres and farms qualify.
• You want subvention on more than 6 heifers.
• You intend to pay cash and claim later. The benefit is delivered as a reduction in interest on a sanctioned institutional loan, so without a loan there is nothing to subvent.
• You do not draw the loan within six months of sanction. The guidelines make such a beneficiary non-eligible, though the lending bank may take a case-by-case view.
• You plan to sell the animals or stop rearing them soon after purchase, which triggers recall of the subvention.

How to apply for RGM interest subvention on an HGM heifer loan

There is no citizen-facing web portal for this component. The application travels through your lender and is approved by DAHD's National Steering Committee.

1. Identify the animals first. Contact a Heifer Rearing Centre run by a milk union, milk federation, milk producer company, dairy SHG or State Livestock Development Board, or a Breed Multiplication Farm set up under RGM, and get a quotation for the pregnant heifers you want, up to a maximum of 6.
2. Approach a lender — a scheduled bank, your milk union, NCDC or an NBFC, with the quotation and your KYC papers, and apply for a dairy loan. Ask explicitly for the loan to be processed under the Rashtriya Gokul Mission interest subvention component so the bank flags it correctly.
3. Check the interest rate. Under the guidelines the lending rate must not exceed EBLR plus 200 basis points. Get this in writing in the sanction letter.
4. Have the bank send the sanction letter to DAHD. The guidelines require the bank to send a copy of the loan sanction letter to DAHD before the case is considered for interest subvention.
5. Wait for appraisal and approval. The Project Management Agency set up in DAHD scrutinises, evaluates and appraises the proposal sanctioned by the bank, and the National Steering Committee accords approval for the grant of interest subvention.
6. Draw the loan within six months of sanction and buy the elite animals within one year of DAHD's sanction of the subvention. Missing either window puts your benefit at risk.
7. Repay on schedule. Maximum repayment is 5 years including a 2-year moratorium on principal. Keep the account out of NPA classification so the bank can claim your subvention each year.

How is the 3% subvention actually paid?

The farmer does not receive a cheque. DAHD pays the interest subvention directly to the scheduled bank.

• For the first year, DAHD pays the subvention amount upfront in advance to the lending bank on the bank's request.
• From the second year onwards, the amount is released each year in advance based on the entitlement claimed by the scheduled bank or lending institution for non-NPA beneficiaries.

The practical effect for the borrower is that the interest debited to the loan account is 3 percentage points lower than the contracted rate. On a Rs 6 lakh loan for four heifers, 3% works out to roughly Rs 18,000 of interest relief in the first year, falling as the principal is repaid.

What repayment terms apply?

• Maximum repayment period: 5 years, inclusive of a 2-year moratorium on the principal amount. The moratorium matters in dairying because a pregnant heifer takes time to calve and reach peak lactation before it generates income.
• The financing bank may curtail the repayment period based on the borrower's repayment capacity.
• Banks fix lending rates in line with RBI's broad regulatory guidelines, taking into account their cost of funds and risk perception, subject to the EBLR plus 200 basis point ceiling under the scheme.
• A beneficiary may withdraw the application on account of genuine constraints, as per the bank's terms of reference.

When can DAHD recall the interest subvention?

DAHD has the authority to recall the subvention along with interest at 10% per annum, within 30 days of a notice, in these situations:

• The elite animals are not procured within one year of DAHD sanctioning the interest subvention.
• The assisted beneficiary stops rearing the elite animals within the period specified in the guidelines after purchase.
• It comes to DAHD's notice that the subvention was availed by manipulating or concealing information, or that it was used for a purpose other than the one sanctioned.

This is the most important practical warning in the component: the money is tied to keeping and rearing the animals, not merely to buying them.

Can this be combined with other schemes?

Yes, with a condition. The guidelines allow eligible entities to dovetail assistance available under other central and state government schemes, while ensuring there is no duplication of assistance for the same component. So a farmer may, for example, use a state dairy scheme for shed construction and this component for the animal loan, but cannot claim two interest subventions on the same loan.

How to check the status of your subvention

1. Ask your lending branch whether the sanction letter has been forwarded to DAHD and whether the case has been placed before the National Steering Committee.
2. Ask the bank to show you the interest debits in your loan account, a sanctioned subvention shows up as a lower effective interest charge, not as a credit entry in your savings account.
3. Follow up with the State Livestock Development Board or the state milk federation, both of which the guidelines name as stakeholders who assist farmers in availing interest subvention.
4. Escalate unresolved cases to the Cattle Development Division, DAHD, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, through the contact route on dahd.gov.in or through CPGRAMS.

Common reasons a claim fails

• Animals bought from the open market instead of an RGM Heifer Rearing Centre or Breed Multiplication Farm.
• The bank never forwarded the sanction letter to DAHD, so the case was never placed before the National Steering Committee.
• Loan not drawn within six months of sanction.
• Loan account slipped into NPA, which disqualifies the beneficiary for that year's subvention.
• Claim for more than 6 heifers.
• Animals sold or given up soon after purchase, triggering recall.

Where to get help

• Your lending bank branch or milk union, which originates and forwards the application.
• NABARD and SIDBI, the institutions through which DAHD implements the component.
• State Livestock Development Board, state dairy federation, milk union or Krishi Vigyan Kendra, which the guidelines say will be supported to create awareness of the scheme among farmers.
• Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi, through dahd.gov.in.

DAHD has not published a dedicated toll-free helpline for Rashtriya Gokul Mission. No agent can charge a fee to "sanction" this subvention. It is decided by the National Steering Committee on the strength of your bank's loan sanction.