Changed on 21 August 2026. The National Horticulture Board revised its rate of assistance to 35% in general areas and 45% in the North Eastern and Himalayan States, Scheduled Areas and specified Union Territories. Cold storage subsidy is now capped at ₹2.00 crore per project, the cost of land no longer counts as eligible project cost, and only one member of a family may ever claim. Fresh applications have also been paused since 4 September 2026. What changed, in full.
Read this first: the NHB figures on this page come from Annexure VI of the MIDH Operational Guidelines, April 2025, which is headed “National Horticulture Board: proposed changes in components and cost norms”. They are recorded here as written. Confirm the operative position with the National Horticulture Board before spending money.
Two NHB components come up often and sit outside both the main project scheme and the cold storage scheme.
Integrated mushroom production unit
In project mode, NHB norms apply for a minimum installed capacity above 50 MT and up to 300 MT in controlled conditions. Assistance is credit-linked subsidy at 35% of eligible project cost in general areas.
The capacity floor matters. A small mushroom shed does not reach 50 MT, and belongs under the NHM low-cost mushroom component instead.
Refrigerated transport
For refrigerated vehicles of 15 MT capacity and above, the cost is up to a maximum of ₹80.00 lakh per project in general areas, with credit-linked back-ended assistance at 35%. The component has to be implemented in accordance with NCCD guidelines.
The 15 MT floor rules out small insulated vans under this component.
Post-harvest components and tissue culture
For post-harvest management components, NHB follows MIDH cost norms and the MIDH pattern of assistance, with implementation in accordance with NCCD guidelines only. A new tissue culture unit under NHB is also stated as being per MIDH norms.
Where a scheme document points at another scheme's norms, there is no separate figure to apply. Read the norms it points to.
