CHENNAI: The state is preparing to launch an Agri Business Guidance Bureau modelled on Guidance Tamil Nadu — the state’s investment promotion agency — to give farmers, agripreneurs and farmer-producer companies (FPCs) structured access to technology, credit and subsidies, said Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri, director of Tamil Nadu Agricultural Marketing and Agri Business.
The bureau will be housed within the Tamil Nadu State Agricultural Marketing Board and launched with an initial state allocation of Rs 50 lakh, Sakhamuri said at a stakeholder consultation on agri-export logistics organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry and Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), themed “From Farm Gate to Global Markets”.
He said it is designed as a one-stop centre covering adoption of modern farming technology, linkage to institutional credit, subsidy access, crop insurance enrolment, investment planning and preparation of Detailed Project Reports required for bank loans or government funding.
Separately, the state will offer a 50% capital subsidy, capped at Rs 10 lakh per FPC, to help farmer organisations buy electric refrigerated vehicles, aimed at cutting post-harvest losses. A pilot covering five FPCs, with a combined outlay of Rs 50 lakh, will run in 2026-27; each eligible FPC will receive one vehicle.
The scheme targets faster, better-preserved movement of fruit, vegetables and flowers from collection centres to regulated markets, Uzhavar Sandhais, processors, organised retailers and institutional buyers.
Sakhamuri said reliable, affordable and timely capital for farmer producer organisations, paired with stronger farm-gate processing and preservation, is central to linking Tamil Nadu’s agricultural value chains to export markets. FPOs should shift from a production-led marketing model to a market-led production model, he said.
On the sidelines of the event, Santosh Sinha, managing director of CWC, said the corporation is planning its first hyperloop freight trial in Mumbai, to test high-throughput container movement as a next-generation logistics option. CWC has placed an order with TuTr Hyperloop, an IIT Madras-linked start-up, for the trial, and is evaluating a pilot route between the port and a CWC facility in Mumbai.
CWC also plans to break ground this year on four new warehouses in Tamil Nadu, on sites identified in Chennai’s Outer Ring Road, Porur and Red Hills, along with Theni and Gangaikondan. The Gangaikondan site, the largest of the four, has been earmarked for a combined rail-and-road freight corridor.