States » WestPosted at: Sep 16 2026 11:07PM


Maha Minister announces agribusiness infra to enable Rs 1,000-crore investment

Mumbai, Sep 16 (UNI) Minister for Agricultural Marketing and Protocol Jaykumar Rawal announced here on Wednesday that the state Government's Department of Agricultural Marketing and Protocol will set up a large-scale modern agribusiness infrastructure under Maharashtra Agribusiness Network (MAGNET 2.0) as part of its plan to position Maharashtra as a leading state not only in agricultural production, but also in processing, value addition and exports.
Addressing the MAGNET Agribusiness Infrastructure Investors’ Meet in here on Wednesday, Rawal, who is also the Chairman of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board stated that the agribusiness infrastructure would enable an investment opportunity of more than Rs 1,000-crore across six agricultural clusters covering banana, pomegranate, mango, citrus, cashew and turmeric, even as he invited the private sector to participate as a partner in developing the infrastructure and businesses required across these value chains.
The investors’ meet brought together senior government officials, representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), international diplomatic representatives, investors, agribusiness companies, financial institutions, exporters, processors, retailers and logistics companies to discuss the investment and infrastructure requirements of Maharashtra’s agricultural value chains.
The proposed infrastructure across the six clusters has been planned to enable an annual handling capacity of approximately six lakh metric tonnes and more than one lakh metric tonnes of cold storage capacity.
It will include integrated agri-logistics hubs, aggregation and grading facilities, cold chain, processing and value addition facilities and export-oriented infrastructure.
An Expression of Interest for the proposed clusters will be invited shortly, Rawal stated. “Maharashtra has a strong agricultural production base. The next opportunity lies in what happens after the produce leaves the farm, how we aggregate it, grade it, store it, process it, transport it and connect it with consumers in India and across the world. This is where we see a significant opportunity for the private sector to invest, operate, innovate and scale,” Minister Rawal said.
“Remarkable work has been done in strengthening the infrastructure and value chain in the first phase of MAGNET. Under MAGNET 2.0, more than 280 sub-projects have been supported, and a cold storage system with a capacity of about 47,000 metric tonnes has been created. More than 33,000 farmers have benefited through capacity development. About 2,32,000 farmers have been directly affected, out of which about 43% are women. Under MAGNET, there has been a reduction in crop losses of about 8.73 percent, and private investment of about Rs 275 crore rupees has also been made. About 4,300 direct jobs have been created through this initiative, out of which 48 percent jobs have been given to women,” Rawal said.
He stated that MAGNET 2.0 will focus on integrated infrastructure rather than individual assets. The proposed facilities will connect agricultural production centres with aggregation, grading, cold chain, processing, logistics, value addition and markets, addressing gaps that currently exist between different stages of the agricultural supply chain.
MAGNET 2.0 will substantially increase the scale of the programme. With a total outlay of USD 250 million and support from the Asian Development Bank and the Government of Maharashtra, the second phase would expand coverage from 15 value chains to 23 value chains.
It is expected to reach more than four lakh farmers, strengthen and incubate 200 Farmer Producer Organisations and train 1.15 lakh members, Rawal stated.
“This transformation cannot be achieved through government investment alone. The government will support infrastructure, finance, institutions and market systems, while the private sector brings capital, technology, processing expertise, operational capabilities, innovation and access to markets. We see the private sector as a partner in this transformation,” he said.
Rawal also outlined the government’s proposal to develop a world-class International Agricultural Market near Dahanu in Palghar district across approximately 1,300 acres. The proposed market at Dapchari is intended to connect Maharashtra’s agricultural production with national and international markets.
The market's location is expected to benefit from road, rail, sea and air connectivity, including Vadhavan Port, the proposed airport, the Dedicated Freight Corridor and the Mumbai-Delhi Expressway. “We should not look at Dapchari simply as another agricultural market. We are looking at it as an integrated food hub,” Rawal said.
The proposed facility is intended to bring international buyers, exporters, logistics providers, cold chain operators, processors, technology companies and FPOs onto a common platform. The objective is to connect infrastructure being developed at production centres with demand in domestic and overseas markets and allow agricultural produce to move more efficiently from farms to aggregation and processing centres and onwards to buyers.
Rawal stated MAGNET 2.0 and the proposed International Agricultural Market are closely linked with the ‘Viksit Maharashtra 2047’ vision. “We want Maharashtra to move from being a State that produces agricultural commodities to a State that creates, captures and exports agricultural value. We want our farmers to be connected not just to markets, but to higher-value markets,” he said.
“MAGNET 1.0 built the foundation. MAGNET 2.0 will give us the opportunity to build at scale, and the International Agricultural Market at Dapchari will give us the opportunity to connect that scale to national and global markets,” Rawal added.
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