19 August 2026, Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh will establish 1,000 Custom Hiring Centres (CHCs) during 2026-27 to make tractors and agricultural machinery available to farmers on a rental basis. The Directorate of Agricultural Engineering has invited online applications from eligible applicants interested in setting up CHCs in the private sector. A subsequent amendment has also added Dhar district to the specified categories of districts eligible for particular sets of agricultural machinery.
Under the 2026-27 programme, the state has set a target of 1,000 CHCs, comprising 554 for the general category, 182 for Scheduled Tribes, 209 for Scheduled Castes and 55 for Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs). Applications can be submitted online from August 7 to August 21, 2026.
Computerised Lottery on August 22
After the application period closes, a computerised lottery will be conducted at 12 noon on August 22, 2026 to determine the priority lists. The lists will be available on the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering portal from 5 pm the same day.
Document verification of selected applicants will be conducted on August 24 and 25, 2026, from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm at the concerned agricultural engineering offices. The notification has prescribed a district-wise verification schedule covering different divisions of the state.
The scheme provides for only one CHC in a village and one CHC per family. Applicants must apply from the district where they intend to establish the centre.
Projects of Up to Rs 25 Lakh Eligible
The project cost for establishing a CHC can be more than Rs 10 lakh and up to Rs 25 lakh. Eligible applicants can receive a subsidy of up to 40%, subject to the prescribed maximum limits. The subsidy is linked to bank financing, with eligibility arising after the project loan is sanctioned by the bank.
The approved loan can have a maximum repayment period of nine years, while the moratorium period can extend up to six months. Agricultural machinery purchased under the scheme will also be subject to a four-year lock-in period.
The scheme requires selected beneficiaries to establish and operate the CHC in accordance with the prescribed conditions. Maintenance of machinery, construction of sheds and other related arrangements will have to be undertaken by the applicant or beneficiary.
Machinery Categories Linked to Crop Patterns
The notification has classified districts according to crop patterns and specified the agricultural machinery that must be made available through CHCs. The equipment includes tractors, mulchers, Super Seeders, Happy Seeders, rice transplanters, laser land levellers, rippers, rotary ploughs, disc harrows, planters and other agricultural machinery. A separate list of machine-operated and automated agricultural equipment is provided in Appendix 3.
Applicants whose districts fall under more than one project category can select one of the applicable categories. The notification also states that an applicant can purchase only one tractor under the scheme.
Dhar Added Through Amendment
Through Amendment-1 issued on August 10, 2026, the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering modified Point 23 of the eligibility and conditions of the original notification. The amendment adds Dhar district to categories (C) and (D) of the list of machinery and equipment to be kept at a CHC under Appendix 3. The remaining rules and conditions remain unchanged.
Category (C) covers districts with a significant sugarcane crop and includes machinery such as tractors above 50 PTO HP, mulchers or trailer-mounted shredders, laser land levellers or multi-crop shapers, multi-crop planters or sugarcane cutter planters, and reversible ploughs or disc harrows.
Category (D) covers districts with crops such as wheat, maize and soybean. The machinery listed includes tractors, mulchers or Super Seeders, maize shapers, laser land levellers or multi-crop shapers, ground-bed planters or multi-crop planters, and reversible ploughs or disc harrows. With the amendment, Dhar has been included in both categories.
258 Block-Level and 742 District-Level CHCs
Appendix 1 sets a target of 258 CHCs across 19 districts at the development-block level. It provides 86 centres each for the general, Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste categories.
Appendix 2 sets a target of 742 district-level CHCs, including 468 for the general category, 123 for Scheduled Tribes, 96 for Scheduled Castes and 55 for FPOs. Together, the two components account for the state’s overall target of 1,000 CHCs for 2026-27.
The notification also requires CHCs to undertake only agriculture-related activities. The programme is intended to expand access to farm machinery by enabling farmers to use tractors and agricultural equipment on a rental basis rather than purchasing all machinery individually.
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