Lok Sabha Question No. 432 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Financial Assistance to FPOs
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Shri P V Midhun Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 432

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 22 ND  JULY, 2025

## FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE TO FPOs

432. SHRI P. V. MIDHUN REDDY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण मंğी be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of FPOs in Andhra Pradesh that have received equity grants or credit guarantees under the Centre's scheme;
- (b) the challenges observed in the implementation of these schemes in southern regions;
- (c) whether the Government plants to  establish  a  national-level  support  cell  for technical training and digital access for FPOs; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ͪष एवं ͩकसान कãयाण राÏय मंğी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)

- (a): As  on  30 th   June,  2025,  224  Farmer  Producer  Organizations  (FPOs)  have received  Equity  Grant  assistance,  and  140  FPOs  have  been  sanctioned  Credit Guarantee Cover under the Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs in Andhra Pradesh.
- (b): FPOs being community-based institutions, face operational, institutional, and financial  challenges  in  their  formative  business  stages.  To  address  these,  the Government is implementing the Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs with the following features:
- i. Deployment  of  Cluster-Based  Business  Organizations  (CBBOs)  to  provide handholding support for 5 years.
- ii. Provision of up to ₹18 lakh per FPO as management cost, and Equity Grant of ₹2,000 per farmer member up to ₹15 lakh per FPO.
- iii. Credit Guarantee Facility to improve access to institutional credit.
- iv. In  coordination  with  State  Governments,  facilitating  the  issuance  of  input licenses to FPOs, including for seed, fertilizer, pesticide, mandi, etc. to enable them to function as agri-business enterprises.
- v. Dedicated FPO MIS Portal for transparency and accountability.
- vi. Weekly webinars and capacity-building programs to promote market linkages, and awareness of government schemes are conducted.
- (c) & (d): Under the Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs, a robust institutional framework has already been put in place, which includes:
- i. National Project Management Agency (NPMA) at the central level to coordinate and support the implementation of the scheme.
- ii. CBBOs to  provide  field-level  capacity  building,  business  planning,  technical support, and digital facilitation to FPOs for a period of 5 years.
- iii. FPOs have been onboarded on digital platform like e-NAM (Electronic National Agriculture  Market),  ONDC (Open  Network for  Digital  Commerce)  and GeM (Government e-Marketplace) to provide digital market access.
- iv. LMS  (Learning  Management  System)  portal  is  provisioned  under  the  said scheme to facilitates capacity building of all the stakeholders (FPOs/ CBBOS/ Farmers) through digital means.
- v. Dedicated FPO Monitoring Information System (MIS) portal for tracking FPO progress, enabling digital reporting and analytics.

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