MIDH's post-harvest and cold chain
A mushroom cold room is fundable, on a clause the NHB and PMKSY documents alone would not lead you to.
Read only NHB’s cold storage scheme and PMKSY, and a mushroom cold room looks unfundable: NHB opens only at 5,001 MT of capacity, and PMKSY excludes horticulture produce by name. Neither statement is wrong. What is missing is that MIDH itself, the same guideline that funds the growing rooms, prices a cold room too, in the same Annexure that funds mushroom cultivation.
National Horticulture Board Operational Guidelines JANUARY 2025 (NHB Operational Guidelines, January 2025: the cold storage scheme (Scheme No. 2))
National Horticulture Board, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India (Plot No. 85, Sector-18, Institutional Area, Gurugram 122015)
Printed January 2025
“Chapter 03, "Scheme-02 - Scheme for Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme for Construction/ Expansion/ Modernization of Cold Storages", "Capacity and Pattern of Assistance", verbatim: "The NHB will support projects with capacities ranging from 5001 MT to 20,000 MT per project based…”Read the full clause
“Chapter 03, "Scheme-02 - Scheme for Capital Investment Subsidy Scheme for Construction/ Expansion/ Modernization of Cold Storages", "Capacity and Pattern of Assistance", verbatim: "The NHB will support projects with capacities ranging from 5001 MT to 20,000 MT per project based on prescribed cost norms. For North-eastern states, projects with a capacity of 1000 MT or more are also eligible for assistance." That floor is the reason this scheme is no route for a mushroom farm's own cold room, which is smaller by three orders of magnitude. The same section states the rates, verbatim: "a. 35% subsidy for projects in General Areas. b. 50% subsidy for projects in North Eastern (NE) and Himalayan States, Scheduled Areas, Vibrant Villages, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep Islands." The enhanced rate there was cut to 45% by NHB's Public Circular of 21 August 2026, cited separately.”
Chapter 03, Capacity and Pattern of Assistance (PDF p.28)
Read on 14 September 2026 by chirag.
Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana "Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain & Value Addition Infrastructure" (PMKSY Integrated Cold Chain & Value Addition Infrastructure (2025 revision))
Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India
Printed 22 May 2025
“Section 2 "Objective" (page 2 of 43), verbatim: "The objective of the Scheme is to provide integrated cold chain, preservation and value addition infrastructure facilities without any break, from the farm gate to the consumer in order to reduce post-harvest losses of…”Read the full clause
“Section 2 "Objective" (page 2 of 43), verbatim: "The objective of the Scheme is to provide integrated cold chain, preservation and value addition infrastructure facilities without any break, from the farm gate to the consumer in order to reduce post-harvest losses of non-horticulture produce, dairy, meat, poultry, and marine/ fish (except shrimp)." Mushroom is a horticulture crop (see MIDH 2025, Section 1.1 and Annexure V, Item III "Mushroom cultivation"), this scheme's own objective clause excludes horticulture produce by name, which excludes mushroom by scope. Confirmed case-insensitive full-text search of the whole 43-page OCR transcript for "mushroom": zero matches, consistent with the scope exclusion rather than an oversight.”
p. 2 of 43
Read on 11 September 2026 by chirag.
Cold Storage Type-I: two construction methods, one item
MIDH’s Annexure V, Item C.7 prints two rows for “Cold Storage Type-I (CS-1)”, priced per tonne of capacity, distinguished only by how it is built: plain civil construction with PUF/PIR panels, or civil work combined with a pre-engineered building (PEB) frame. They are two rows of the same item, not two different items.
A 20 MT cold room, general area, either construction method
Worked out here from the rate below, not a total any single document prints on its own.
OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES MISSION FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMET OF HORTICULTURE (MIDH Operational Guidelines 2025)
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India (published on nhb.gov.in)
Printed 31 December 2024
“Annexure V, Item C.7 "Cold Storage Type-I (CS-1)", row (i), verbatim: "Cold Storage Type-I is defined as CS-1 with Construction in civil including PUF/PIR panels, Doors and Ante-rooms, Refrigeration Units, Electrical Installation, Administrative block, Safety/Fire Safety and…”Read the full clause
“Annexure V, Item C.7 "Cold Storage Type-I (CS-1)", row (i), verbatim: "Cold Storage Type-I is defined as CS-1 with Construction in civil including PUF/PIR panels, Doors and Ante-rooms, Refrigeration Units, Electrical Installation, Administrative block, Safety/Fire Safety and Hazard control and basic mazzenine structure." Cost Norms column, verbatim: "Rs. 9600/MT, (Max 5,000 MT capacity)." Pattern of Assistance column, verbatim: "Credit linked back-ended assistance @ 35% in General areas and 50% in the case of NE & Himalayan States, Scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands." plus "Note: Component has to be implemented in accordance to NCCD guidelines only."”
PDF p.65
Read on 11 September 2026 by chirag.
Same evidence, row (ii)
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India (published on nhb.gov.in)
Printed 31 December 2024
“Annexure V, Item C.7 "Cold Storage Type-I (CS-1)", row (ii), verbatim: "Cold Storage Type-I is defined as CS-1 with Construction in combination of civil & PEB including PUF/PIR panels, Doors and Ante-rooms, Refrigeration Units, Electrical Installation, Administrative block,…”Read the full clause
“Annexure V, Item C.7 "Cold Storage Type-I (CS-1)", row (ii), verbatim: "Cold Storage Type-I is defined as CS-1 with Construction in combination of civil & PEB including PUF/PIR panels, Doors and Ante-rooms, Refrigeration Units, Electrical Installation, Administrative block, Safety/Fire Safety and Hazard control and basic mezzanine structure." Cost Norms column, verbatim: "Rs. 12000/MT, (Max 5,000 MT capacity)." Pattern of Assistance column, verbatim: "Credit linked back-ended assistance @ 35% in General areas and 50% in the case of NE & Himalayan States, Scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands." plus "Note: Component has to be implemented in accordance to NCCD guidelines only."”
PDF p.66
Read on 11 September 2026 by chirag.
“(Max 5,000 MT capacity)” is a ceiling on how many tonnes draw this per-MT rate, not a minimum a project must clear to qualify at all. No document sets a floor here. A mushroom farm’s cold room, typically tens of MT rather than thousands, is priced by this same row, at the same rate, as a 5,000 MT commercial facility.
The pack house and the pre-cooling unit
Two more items in the same table price the handling equipment around a cold room, not the room itself. C.2, the Integrated Pack House, caps assistance against actual cost; C.5, a mobile pre-cooling unit, prices a flat norm.
The Integrated Pack House is priced against your actual cost, 35% in a general area, up to the guideline’s own printed ceiling of ₹1,60,00,000 per beneficiary, a figure the document states directly, not one worked out here from a rate.
OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES MISSION FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMET OF HORTICULTURE (MIDH Operational Guidelines 2025)
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India (published on nhb.gov.in)
Printed 31 December 2024
“Annexure V, Item C.2 "INTEGRATED PACK HOUSE with facilities of size 18m x 22m...", Cost Norms column, verbatim: "Upto a maximum of Rs 160.00 lakh per beneficiary. However, actual cost would be derived based on component/option chosen depending upon selection as per NCCD…”Read the full clause
“Annexure V, Item C.2 "INTEGRATED PACK HOUSE with facilities of size 18m x 22m...", Cost Norms column, verbatim: "Upto a maximum of Rs 160.00 lakh per beneficiary. However, actual cost would be derived based on component/option chosen depending upon selection as per NCCD guidelines." Pattern of Assistance column, verbatim: "Credit linked back-ended assistance @ 35% in General areas and 50% in the case of NE & Himalayan States, Scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands." plus "Note: the component has to be implemented in accordance to NCCD guidelines only."”
PDF p.64
Read on 11 September 2026 by chirag.
Mobile pre-cooling unit, general area
Worked out here from the rate below, not a total any single document prints on its own.
OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES MISSION FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMET OF HORTICULTURE (MIDH Operational Guidelines 2025)
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India (published on nhb.gov.in)
Printed 31 December 2024
“Annexure V, Item C.5 "Mobile pre-cooling unit", Cost Norms column, verbatim: "Rs. 30.00 lakh." Pattern of Assistance column, verbatim: "Credit linked back-ended assistance @ 35% in General areas and 50% in the case of NE & Himalayan States, Scheduled areas, vibrant villages,…”Read the full clause
“Annexure V, Item C.5 "Mobile pre-cooling unit", Cost Norms column, verbatim: "Rs. 30.00 lakh." Pattern of Assistance column, verbatim: "Credit linked back-ended assistance @ 35% in General areas and 50% in the case of NE & Himalayan States, Scheduled areas, vibrant villages, Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep Islands."”
PDF p.65
Read on 11 September 2026 by chirag.
Why this does not compete with NHB Scheme No. 2
MIDH states the division of labour in its own words: cold storages up to 5,000 MT sit under MIDH’s own NHM/HMNEH sub-schemes, and only capacity above 5,000 MT, up to 10,000 MT, moves to the NHB sub-scheme. MIDH and NHB Scheme No. 2 are complementary by design, not two routes competing for the same small cold room.
OPERATIONAL GUIDELINES MISSION FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMET OF HORTICULTURE (MIDH Operational Guidelines 2025)
Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India (published on nhb.gov.in)
Printed 31 December 2024
“Cold storages (Long term storage and distribution hubs) up to 5000 MT capacity will be promoted under NHM/HMNEH sub schemes (Annexure V), capacity above 5000 MT up to 10000 MT will be promoted under NHB sub scheme. (Annexure VII).”Read the full clause and reasoning
“Section 7.48 "Cold Chain Infrastructure" (PDF p.23), verbatim: "Assistance for setting up of new cold storage infrastructure will be available only to multiple chamber cold storage units with technologies which are energy efficient and approved by Govt. of India. ... Cold storages (Long term storage and distribution hubs) up to 5000 MT capacity will be promoted under NHM/HMNEH sub schemes (Annexure V), capacity above 5000 MT up to 10000 MT will be promoted under NHB sub scheme. (Annexure VII)."”
Section 7.48 (PDF p.23)
Read on 11 September 2026 by chirag.
Two conditions this page cannot resolve
The same section requires that assistance go only to “multiple chamber cold storage units” with energy-efficient, government-approved technology. Neither this section nor the C.7 table defines a chamber count or a technology list, and this project has not archived the NCCD guidelines every row in this table also names as governing implementation detail. Both are real, stated conditions, recorded here rather than left out. Confirm chamber configuration and technology approval with the NCCD guidelines, or your sanctioning department, before you build.