Farm Machinery Bank (FMB) / Farm Machinery Hub (FMH), West Bengal

What is the Farm Machinery Bank scheme in West Bengal?

Farm Machinery Bank (FMB) / Farm Machinery Hub (FMH) is a component of the Farm Mechanization Umbrella Scheme of the Department of Agriculture, Government of West Bengal. FMB/FMH was introduced in 2023 for setting up farm machinery banks and was continued in 2024-25. According to the scheme guidelines, the objective is to create employment opportunities among rural youth and entrepreneurs by helping them set up a machinery hub, with special emphasis on areas where farm power availability is low.

An FMB or FMH is, in plain terms, a custom hiring business. The entrepreneur or group owns a set of farm machines and rents them out to farmers in the locality at reasonable charges. The small and marginal farmer who cannot justify buying a machine for two acres hires it for a day; the entrepreneur earns from the hiring; the state gets higher farm power availability without every farmer buying every machine.

Stated objectives of FMB/FMH

• Self-employment for rural youth and other entrepreneurs.
• End-to-end mechanisation, from land development to residue management, within reach of small and marginal farmers at reasonable charges.
• To offset the high cost of owning farm machinery for small holdings.
• To promote primary processing units such as dal mills, oil mills and grinding machinery, and to set up seed processing units.
• To raise farm power availability from the then level of 2.30 KW per hectare to 2.50 KW per hectare, as envisioned by the Government of India.

Area of operation. FMB/FMH applies uniformly throughout West Bengal except Kolkata district.

How much subsidy does the Farm Machinery Bank scheme provide?

The subsidy under FMB/FMH is 80 per cent of the Total Financial Outlay (TFO), subject to a maximum of Rs 8.00 lakh, and the minimum TFO is Rs 10,00,000. The TFO is made up of the indicative cost of machinery plus the cost of the shed, the annual maintenance contract (AMC) and insurance. The remaining amount of the TFO is borne by the beneficiary.

Internal caps within the TFO

• Cost of the open shed for machinery: limited to 5 per cent of the TFO.
• Total ancillary cost other than machinery: must not exceed 10 per cent of the TFO.

How the money flows. The applicant must first deposit margin money of at least 25 per cent of the TFO with the financing bank. The rest is a bank loan. Only then does the Deputy Director of Agriculture (Administration) release the subsidy, and it is released not to the entrepreneur directly but to the concerned bank branch, into the subsidy reserve fund or loan account, as a back-ended subsidy through DBT. No machine or equipment is procured by the government.

Choice of machinery. The list of machinery and implements that can be selected for an FMB/FMH is given at Annexure-IV-A of the operational guidelines. Before the online window opens, the State Project Management Team publishes on the Matir Katha portal the available models registered on the portal along with indicative prices, and an applicant may choose more than one machine for the hub. For a primary processing unit, dal mill, oil mill, grinding machinery: or a seed processing unit, the applicant may opt for a single machine provided the Rs 10 lakh minimum project cost is met. The list is indicative and not exhaustive: a suitable machine outside the list may be included with the approval of the SPMT, and for any non-listed machine the latest SMAM guidelines are followed to work out the subsidy portion.

Subsidy applies only to purchases from manufacturers and dealers enlisted on the departmental portal. For AMC, insurance and the cost of the shed, proper documents, a vetted estimate by the competent authority, quotations and invoices, must be submitted with the project to claim benefit under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.

Who is eligible to set up a Farm Machinery Bank?

You can apply if:

• You are an individual rural youth entrepreneur registered under Krishak Bandhu (Natun), or
• You are a group: SKUS/PACS, FPO, FPC, FIG, a duly graded SHG, LAMPS or a similar body approved or recognised by a government institution or department — that has been running successfully for at least one year.
• Your project cost / Total Financial Outlay is at least Rs 10,00,000.
• You have sufficient land in your possession: owned, leased or hired, for setting up the FMB/FMH, and that land is of the commercial, bastu or viti category.
• You are at least 18 years old at the time of application.

You are not eligible if:

• You or your spouse have already availed a benefit under FSSM, OTA-SFI, FMB or CHC; the guidelines reserve FMB/FMH for applicants who have not, and bar a fresh application before four years from the release of the last subsidy.
• You are an employee or retired employee of the State Government, a statutory body, a government undertaking, a panchayat, a municipal corporation or municipality, a local body, or a government-aided educational institution.
• Your land is only agricultural and not of the commercial, bastu or viti category.
• Your group has been operating for less than one year.
• You are in Kolkata district.

What documents are required for FMB/FMH?

How to apply for the Farm Machinery Bank scheme

1. Wait for the advertisement of the season's window in leading dailies and on the departmental website and the Matir Katha portal. Online application opens only after that advertisement.
2. Open the FMS portal at wbfms.matirkatha.net, click New Registration, complete the Applicant Registration form, verify the details and click Sign Up.
3. Click Log In, enter your Voter Card number and password, select the season, and sign in.
4. Fill the application form, building the project: choose the machines, models and enlisted manufacturers or dealers from the portal, add shed, AMC and insurance costs within the 5 per cent and 10 per cent caps, and make sure the TFO is at least Rs 10 lakh. Submit and note the serial number generated.
5. Print the application with the acknowledgement receipt, attach a recent passport-size photograph and the prescribed documents: land papers, PAN, Aadhaar, solvency proof, quotations, vetted estimate, DPR and the authorisation resolution where applicable, and submit the hard copy to the office of the Deputy Director of Agriculture of your District within the stipulated period.
6. Once selected and sanctioned, deposit at least 25 per cent margin money with the financing bank and complete the loan formalities, after which the DDA (Administration) releases the subsidy to the bank branch.

Note the difference from FSSM and OTA-SFI: for those two components the hard copy goes to the Block Assistant Director of Agriculture, but for FMB/FMH it goes to the District Deputy Director of Agriculture, because the project is sanctioned at district level.

One edit only. An applicant gets a single edit option in specified fields after online submission, but only before the hard copy is submitted at the district office. After that no edit is allowed.

Why FMB/FMH applications get rejected

• Project cost below Rs 10 lakh, which fails the minimum TFO condition.
• Land of the wrong category, agricultural land instead of commercial, bastu or viti.
• Group less than one year old, or no resolution authorising the signatory.
• Prior benefit under FSSM, OTA-SFI, FMB or CHC by the applicant or spouse.
• Applicant is a serving or retired government or local-body employee.
• No bank tie-up or insufficient margin money, so the 25 per cent condition cannot be met.
• Shed or ancillary cost above the 5 per cent and 10 per cent caps.
• Hard copy not delivered to the District Deputy Director of Agriculture in time.

Help and grievance redressal for FMB/FMH

• Farm Mechanization helpline desk: 8336957298, 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
• District level: Deputy Director of Agriculture, who receives the hard copy and, through the DDA (Administration), releases the subsidy to the bank
• Block level: Assistant Director of Agriculture, for local guidance on the Krishak Bandhu record and land papers
• Krishak Bandhu ID check: krishakbandhu.net/farmer_search

Applying under FMB/FMH is free. The subsidy is released to a bank account and never in cash, so no agent or intermediary can promise to "arrange" a machinery bank sanction for a fee.

How to check your Farm Machinery Bank application status

FMB/FMH does not have a separate SMS-based tracker, so status checking runs through the same FMS portal used for applying, plus follow-up with the district office that holds your hard copy.

1. Log back into the FMS portal. Go to wbfms.matirkatha.net, click Log In, and sign in with the same Voter Card number and password used at registration, for the same season you applied in. Your application dashboard shows the current stage against the serial number generated when you first submitted the online form.
2. Match the online status with your hard-copy submission. Because FMB/FMH is sanctioned at district level, the online portal stage only reflects data entry and scrutiny; actual selection and sanction happen after your printed application, acknowledgement receipt and documents reach the office of the Deputy Director of Agriculture (DDA) of your district. If the portal shows "submitted" but you have not yet delivered the hard copy, the file will not move to scrutiny.
3. Call or visit the District Deputy Director of Agriculture. This office receives the hard copy, checks it against the online application, and is the correct place to ask whether your file has been scrutinised, selected, or sent for sanction. Quote your serial number and the season (year) you applied in.
4. Use the Farm Mechanization helpline for portal-side queries. For login issues, a serial number that does not appear, or confusion about which season window is open, call the Farm Mechanization helpline desk at 8336957298, available 10.00 am to 6.00 pm.
5. Check with the Block Assistant Director of Agriculture for record-level issues. If the hold-up is about your Krishak Bandhu record, land classification (commercial, bastu or viti) or group registration proof rather than the FMB file itself, the Block office is where those underlying records get corrected before the district can act on your application.
6. Track the subsidy release stage separately, once sanctioned. After sanction, the subsidy is not paid to you directly; it is released by the DDA (Administration) to your financing bank branch as a back-ended, DBT subsidy once you have deposited the 25 per cent margin money and the bank loan is in place. At this stage, checking status also means checking with your financing bank branch on whether the subsidy reserve fund or loan account has been credited, since the department's release and the bank's crediting can happen on different days.

Keep your printed acknowledgement receipt, serial number and season noted safely: none of the three follow-up points, portal, district office or bank, can trace your file without this reference.