AgriSURE Fund (AgriSURE)

Overview

The AgriSURE Fund (Agri Fund for Start-Ups & Rural Enterprises) is a ₹750 crore Category-II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) registered with SEBI, designed to support innovative, technology-driven, high-risk, high-impact activities in agriculture and allied sectors. It was launched on 3 September 2024 by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in New Delhi.

The fund was first announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and is jointly sponsored by the Government of India and NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development). Its investment manager is NABVENTURES Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of NABARD.

Fund Structure and Investment Strategy

Direct Equity Investment

Out of the total ₹750 crore corpus, ₹300 crore is earmarked for direct equity investment in agriculture startups. This arm directly funds early-stage and growth-stage ventures in agritech, food processing, and allied sectors.

Fund of Funds

The remaining ₹450 crore functions as a Fund of Funds (FoF), investing in other venture capital funds that operate in agriculture and allied sectors. This includes sector-specific AIFs, sector-agnostic AIFs, and debt AIFs.

Target Sectors

AgriSURE covers a wide range of agriculture and rural enterprise domains:

• Agritech and Precision Farming — IoT sensors, AI-based advisory, satellite imaging
• Food Processing — value addition, cold chain, packaging
• Animal Husbandry and Fisheries — dairy tech, aquaculture innovation
• Supply Chain Management — farm-to-fork logistics, e-NAM integration
• Farm Mechanisation — drones, robotic harvesters, custom hiring
• Biotechnology — seed technology, bio-inputs, crop genomics
• Waste Management — agri-waste valorisation, bio-energy
• Renewable Energy — solar pumps, biomass gasifiers
• FPO and Cooperative Development — aggregation platforms, cooperative tech
• Climate Change Adaptation — climate-resilient crop varieties, carbon farming

Progress and Approvals (as of 2025)

The fund has made significant progress since its September 2024 launch:

• Total approvals: ₹200 crore
  • Fund of Funds scheme: ₹130 crore approved
  • Direct equity scheme: ₹70 crore approved
• NABARD has also announced two new thematic funds building on the AgriSURE model:
  • NABARD Green Impact Fund (NGIF): ₹1,000 crore (climate and sustainability startups)
  • NABARD Carbon Fund (NCF): ₹300 crore (carbon credit and carbon farming startups)

Implementing Framework

Governance

The fund operates under SEBI’s AIF Regulations, 2012. NABVENTURES Ltd. serves as the Investment Manager, responsible for deal sourcing, due diligence, investment decisions, and portfolio management. A dedicated Investment Committee comprising agriculture and finance experts oversees investment decisions.

Krishi Nivesh Portal

Alongside AgriSURE, the government launched the Krishi Nivesh Portal — a digital platform connecting agri-startups with investors, mentors, and government schemes. This portal serves as a pipeline for deal flow into the AgriSURE Fund.

Latest Developments

• Total approvals crossed Rs 200 crore (as of late 2025) — Rs 130 crore under Fund of Funds and Rs 70 crore under Direct Equity, with around 600 applications received to date
• Two new thematic funds announced by NABARD building on the AgriSURE model — the Rs 1,000 crore NABARD Green Impact Fund (NGIF) and the Rs 300 crore NABARD Carbon Fund (NCF), launched in January 2026 for climate and carbon farming startups
• Investment focus remains early-stage — typical ticket size ranges between Rs 20–25 crore per startup, targeting Series A rounds in agritech and allied sectors
• Krishi Nivesh Portal operational as the primary deal flow pipeline, connecting agri-startups with investors and government schemes
• AgriSURE Greenathon initiative launched by NABARD and NABVENTURES to identify and support green agriculture and sustainability startups
• NABVENTURES Ltd. continues as the sole Investment Manager; the fund is on track to meet its target of supporting approximately 85 startups by end of fund life (2034)

Prelims Importance

• AgriSURE is a Category-II AIF registered with SEBI (not Category-I or Category-III)
• Total corpus: ₹750 crore (₹250 crore each from GoI, NABARD, and private investors)
• Investment Manager: NABVENTURES Ltd. (wholly owned subsidiary of NABARD)
• Announced in Union Budget 2022-23; launched on 3 September 2024
• Fund duration: 10 years, extendable by 2 years
• Structure: ₹300 crore direct equity + ₹450 crore Fund of Funds
• Maximum investment per startup: ₹25 crore
• Target: Support ~85 startups by end of fund life
• AIF Regulations are governed by SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012
• NABARD was established in 1982 on the recommendation of the Shivaraman Committee (B. Sivaraman)
• NABARD is headquartered in Mumbai

Mains & Interview Importance

GS3 — Economy (Agriculture, Growth & Development)

• Discuss how AgriSURE addresses the credit gap in agriculture startups that traditional banks cannot fill due to high-risk perception
• Analyse the Fund of Funds model as a mechanism to crowd-in private capital into agriculture innovation
• Evaluate the role of NABARD in agricultural finance beyond traditional refinancing

GS3 — Science & Technology (Innovation in Agriculture)

• AgriSURE is a case study for public-private partnership in agritech innovation
• Compare with other government startup initiatives: Startup India Fund of Funds (managed by SIDBI), Atal Innovation Mission
• Discuss how the fund can catalyse precision agriculture, AI-based advisory, and drone technology adoption

Essay Connections

• “Technology as an equaliser in Indian agriculture”
• “Can venture capital solve the agrarian crisis?”

Interview Angles

• “How does an AIF differ from a mutual fund, and why was the AIF route chosen for AgriSURE?”
• “Is ₹750 crore sufficient to transform Indian agritech, given that India has over 3,000 agritech startups?”
• “What role should government play in agricultural innovation — funder, regulator, or enabler?”

Sources: PIB, NABARD, NABVENTURES, Business Standard