Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday, 23 June 2026 announced that the state has disbursed over Rs 1,100 crore under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) to farmers, citing rapid progress in implementing the central scheme and expanding its reach across Assam.

Context

The announcement followed a meeting between CM Sarma and Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in which AIF emerged as a key agenda point. Sarma described the discussion as a catalyst for renewed momentum in rolling out the scheme at the state level.

Sharing the update on X, Sarma stated: 'Following my meeting with Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan ji, where AIF was a key takeaway of our discussion, I'm happy to share that we continue to make rapid progress in implementing Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and expanding its reach. Rs 1,100+ crore has been disbursed till now to farmers.'

Policy Backdrop

The Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is a central sector scheme launched in 2020-21 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore to provide medium- and long-term financing for post-harvest and farm-gate infrastructure projects. Eligible beneficiaries include primary agricultural cooperative societies, farmer producer organisations (FPOs), and agri-entrepreneurs.

The scheme is designed to fund the creation of cold storages, warehouses, sorting and grading units, and primary processing centres — infrastructure that directly reduces post-harvest losses. Assam, a state with significant agricultural output including tea, rice, and horticulture produce, stands to benefit substantially from such investments in storage and processing capacity.

The BJP-led government in Assam has positioned itself as an active participant in centrally sponsored agricultural schemes, with the AIF rollout forming part of a broader effort to modernise farm-gate infrastructure across the North-East.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of AIF disbursements are farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, and cooperative societies in Assam. Improved post-harvest infrastructure is expected to reduce crop wastage, stabilise farm incomes, and create ancillary employment in rural processing and logistics.

The meeting between CM Sarma and Minister Chouhan signals continued centre-state coordination between two BJP-governed entities, reinforcing a pattern of aligned policy implementation on agriculture infrastructure. Such coordination is seen as critical to accelerating fund utilisation and ensuring that disbursements translate into on-ground project completion.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to state-level AIF utilisation reports detailing how the Rs 1,100 crore has been allocated across districts and project categories. Any fresh memoranda of understanding between Assam and the Union Agriculture Ministry on specific infrastructure projects would be the next concrete marker of progress.

With the scheme's corpus running into lakhs of crores at the national level, Assam's ability to sustain and scale its disbursement pace will be closely watched as a benchmark for other North-Eastern states under the NEDA umbrella.