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.
If you read one thing before planning a project under NHM, read this. Nearly every disappointed applicant has misread the same number.
The definition, as written
The guidelines say it plainly: cost norms means upper limit of cost for calculation of subsidy.
That is all it is. A ceiling used in an arithmetic step. It is not a valuation of your project, not a government price list, and not a promise about what a vendor will charge you.
How the calculation works
Take a naturally ventilated polyhouse of 500 square metres. The guidelines carry a cost norm of ₹1,200 per square metre for that slab, and assistance of 50%.
- Cost considered: 500 × ₹1,200 = ₹6,00,000
- Assistance at 50%: ₹3,00,000
Now suppose your vendor quotes ₹8,00,000 for the same structure. The extra ₹2,00,000 does not enter the calculation at all. Your assistance stays at ₹3,00,000 and your own contribution rises from ₹3,00,000 to ₹5,00,000.
The reverse also holds. If the actual cost is below the norm, the lower figure is the one used.
Three consequences worth planning for
- Compare quotations against the norm before you sign. Every rupee above the norm is entirely yours.
- The norm falls as area grows. Several components use sliding scales, so the per-square-metre figure for a large structure is lower than for a small one.
- The percentage is not the whole answer. A component at 50% with a 4,000 square metre ceiling behaves very differently from one at 50% with no practical ceiling.
What to work out before committing
In this order: your exact component, then its cost norm, then the assistance percentage, then the maximum eligible area or capacity. Skipping any step produces a number that will not survive contact with the department.
