Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund

What is AIF?
The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) is a flagship central government scheme launched in 2020, aimed at building strong post-harvest and farm-gate infrastructure across India. AIF provides medium- and long-term loans to entrepreneurs, agri-businesses, FPOs, cooperatives, MSMEs, startups, and even individual farmers to create sustainable infrastructure that improves the supply chain, minimizes post-harvest losses, and increases farmer income.​

Key Features:

  • Objective: Finance viable projects for post-harvest management and community farming assets (storage, cold chains, warehouses, processing centers, logistics, etc.).​

  • Tenure: The scheme operates from 2020-21 to 2032-33, with loan disbursals allowed until 2025-26.​

  • Interest Subvention: All loans up to ₹2 crore are eligible for 3% per annum interest subvention (rebate), for up to 7 years. For loans above ₹2 crore, subvention applies only to the first ₹2 crore.​

  • Credit Guarantee: Loans up to ₹2 crore availed by eligible MSMEs, FPOs, and entrepreneurs are covered under the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE), and the government bears the fee.​

  • Moratorium: Repayment moratorium varies from 6 months to 2 years, with the loan tenure up to 7 years.​

  • Eligible Projects:

    • Warehouses, silos, cold storage, and supply/logistics chains

    • Assaying units, pack houses, sorting & grading units

    • Community farming assets (polyhouses, hydroponics, farm machinery banks)

    • Food processing, organic input production, nursery, tissue culture

    • Digital agriculture infrastructure, tech-driven supply chain platforms​

  • Eligible Beneficiaries:

    • MSMEs and start-ups

    • Individual entrepreneurs

    • Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs)

    • SHGs, cooperatives, agri-entrepreneurs, PACS, marketing societies

    • Public-private partnership projects (PPP) sponsored by agencies.​

Major Benefits:

  • Major boost to agri-MSMEs by reducing cost of capital and improving access to finance.

  • Enables small units to invest in scalable infrastructure, increasing overall productivity and profit.

  • Incentivizes private investment into rural infrastructure.

  • Reduces post-harvest losses, improves storage, and enhances market access for farm and MSME products.​

  • Employment generation and community development, especially in rural and semi-urban regions.​

Application & Process:

  1. Prepare a project plan with cost estimates for the infrastructure you wish to build/upgrade (with quotations, business plan, and technical feasibility).

  2. Approach any scheduled commercial bank, regional rural bank, or eligible NBFC participating in AIF.

  3. Submit required documents (identity, business registration, land records, business plan, expenditure estimates, and other KYC documents).

  4. Bank will appraise your project; if approved, you receive a loan with interest subvention and credit guarantee support.​

  5. Repay as per sanctioned schedule after moratorium.

Recent Achievements:

  • As of June 2025, over ₹66,000 crore sanctioned under AIF for more than 1.13 lakh projects throughout India, covering over 2,400 cold storage projects, warehousing, and logistics for agri-MSMEs.​

Official Portal/More Information:

  • Click here to visit official Guidelines

  • Click here to visit Official Website

  • You may also apply via partner banks’ MSME/agri-infrastructure heads.

Summary:
AIF is a transformative scheme that empowers MSMEs and agri-entrepreneurs to create quality infrastructure, scale up operations, and access the financial and technical support needed for business growth and value addition in India’s agriculture sector.​

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