Over 49 companies including the Tata Group, Amazon, ITC and Patanjali among others entered an agreement with the Maharashtra government to revamp the agricultural value chain and improve farmers’ price realisation.
Called ‘State of Maharashtra’s Agribusiness and Rural Transformation (SMART)’ the project is assisted by the World Bank to support the development of inclusive and competitive agriculture value chain.
Project SMART entails an investment of ₹2,000 crore with the World Bank contributing₹1,500 crore and the State government ₹430 crore. The balance ₹70 crore will come through VSTF (Village Social Transformation Foundation), a Maharashtra government initiative, through its partners. VSTF signed MOU’s with 22 corporates and start-ups to focus on increasing farm productivity and price realisations for farmers by direct tie-up with end-buyers.