Before you spend money: cost norms, rates and conditions can be changed by the Government. This page explains the April 2025 MIDH operational guidelines as written. Confirm the current position with your State Horticulture Department before committing to a project.
This is the most repeated sentence about the scheme, and it is the reason a lot of project plans do not survive their first meeting with the department.
Where the confusion starts
Two different numbers get mixed up. The Government of India contributes 60% of the programme outlay in general States, with the State contributing 40%. That is a budget-sharing arrangement between governments. It says nothing about what an individual beneficiary receives.
Separately, 50% is a real rate, but only for certain components. Protected cultivation is the main one, which is why anyone selling polyhouses quotes it.
What the rates actually are
| Component group | General-area assistance |
|---|---|
| Protected cultivation structures, crops inside them, and add-ons | 50% |
| Fruit, vegetable, flower, spice and medicinal area expansion | 40% |
| Rejuvenation of old orchards | 40% |
| Integrated nutrient and pest management | 30% |
| Most large post-harvest and cold-chain projects | 35%, credit-linked back-ended |
| Farm gate pack house, low-cost onion storage | 50% |
The percentage is only half the answer
Every rate comes with a ceiling, and the ceiling usually decides the money more than the percentage does. Fifty percent of a cost norm, capped at 4,000 square metres, is a very different figure from fifty percent of your quotation.
A better question
Instead of “what percentage does NHM give”, ask: which component covers my project, what is its cost norm, what is the rate for my category, and what is the maximum area or capacity. Those four answers give a number you can plan with.
Protected cultivation is where the gap between the rate and the reality is widest, because the structures cost far more than their norms. We have worked it through for polyhouses and net houses: the same 50% rule returns roughly 50%, 35% and 16% depending on which structure you build.
