National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM): Subsidy Rates, Who Can Apply and How to Apply

The National Beekeeping and Honey Mission (NBHM) is a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, run through the National Bee Board. It has an outlay of Rs 500 crore for FY 2020-21 to FY 2025-26 and works through three Mini Missions: pollination and productivity, post-harvest and processing, and research. The guidelines give 50% assistance to individuals and firms, 75% to groups, SHGs and FPOs, and 90% in the North East and Himalayan states. For a farmer's own bee boxes, the MIDH guidelines give 40% of cost, up to 50 colonies per beneficiary. Registration happens on the Madhukranti portal.

NBHM is a Central Sector Scheme of the Government of India for the overall promotion of scientific beekeeping and the production of quality honey and other hive products. The goal is called the "Sweet Revolution". It is funded fully by the Centre and carried out through the National Bee Board.

The scheme was announced under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package. A PIB release of 22 May 2020 quotes the then Agriculture Minister saying the government had allocated Rs 500 crore for beekeeping under that package. The PIB backgrounder gives the mission period as FY 2020-21 to FY 2025-26, and the Operational Guidelines are dated October 2020.

Beekeeping fits a small farm well. The ICAR Indian Farming article of July 2025 lists the points in its favour: little investment, little time, use of uncultivable land, and no competition for resources with other farm work. Bees also pollinate your own crop, which is why the mission has a whole Mini Mission for it.

For a wider view of central and state help for farmers, see the agriculture subsidy schemes guide. This post covers only bees and honey.

NBHM belongs to the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare. The National Bee Board (NBB), which works under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, is the nodal agency. NBB reviews project proposals, releases funds to implementing agencies and runs the Madhukranti portal for registration and traceability.

The PIB backgrounder says NBB was registered as a society on 19 July 2000 and reconstituted in June 2006 under the chairmanship of the Secretary (Agriculture and Cooperation). Its stated purpose is to promote scientific beekeeping so that crop yields rise through pollination and beekeepers earn more from honey.

The mission has several layers. This table shows who does what, as listed in the PIB backgrounder.

For a farmer the useful point is this. You will almost never deal with NBB in Delhi first. Your first office is the district or state horticulture or agriculture department, which sends your papers up the chain.

NBHM is split into Mini Mission I (production and productivity of crops through bee pollination), Mini Mission II (post-harvest management of hive products, including collection, processing, storage and marketing) and Mini Mission III (research and technology for different regions). Each has its own list of projects and cost limits.

The guidelines list 11 objectives. In plain words they cover income and jobs for farm and non-farm families, quality nucleus stock and bee breeders, honey testing labs, traceability systems, honey corridors, startups, trade tie-ups between beekeepers and processors or exporters, skills, women, and collective bodies such as SHGs, FPOs and cooperatives.

The PIB backgrounder gives a total outlay of Rs 500 crore for FY 2020-21 to FY 2025-26. It says the scheme was first announced for three years (FY 2020-21 to 2022-23) and then extended for three more years (FY 2023-24 to 2025-26) with a remaining budget of Rs 370 crore from the original allocation.

The PIB document gives no period beyond FY 2025-26. Before you plan around an open call, ask your district horticulture office whether NBB is taking proposals. You can also watch the National Bee Board page and the Madhukranti portal, and the agri schemes calendar collects scheme dates in one place. The bee box subsidy under MIDH is a separate scheme with its own guidelines, dated 31.12.2024.

The mission has produced results on the ground. The same backgrounder lists the following as sanctioned under NBHM up to March 2025.

It also notes a National Centre of Excellence in Beekeeping sanctioned at IIT Roorkee. These are national figures, so they say little about whether your district has a lab or a processing unit nearby.

The same PIB document puts India's natural honey output at about 1.4 lakh tonnes in marketing year 2024 and exports at about 1.07 lakh tonnes in FY 2023-24, and says India is the second largest honey exporter after China. It lists the leading producing states by share of output: Uttar Pradesh 17%, West Bengal 16%, Punjab 14%, Bihar 12% and Rajasthan 9%.

Under the October 2020 guidelines, NBHM assistance is 50% for individual beneficiaries, societies, firms and companies, and 75% for groups such as SHGs, JLGs, FIGs, cooperatives, FPOs and FPCs. In the North Eastern Region and Himalayan states it is 90% for all. Government bodies and capacity building get 100%.

The percentage is only half the story. Each project type also has a cost estimate and a maximum assistance. The sections below give those caps from the guidelines. The rate applies to the eligible cost, and the cap stops it from running past the limit.

Yes, but it mainly comes through MIDH, not through an NBHM project. The MIDH Operational Guidelines 2025 give 40% of cost for 8-frame bee hives with colonies (norm Rs 4,000 per unit), limited to 50 colonies per beneficiary, and 40% of an equipment set (norm Rs 20,000), limited to one set per beneficiary.

MIDH is the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture. The MIDH guidelines say the state designated agency coordinates the beekeeping programme in a state, and NBB gives technical support. The beekeeping items sit under item B.11, "Pollination support through beekeeping".

The NBHM guidelines (para 1.3) say the mission works together with other schemes and name MIDH among them. Their Model I describes a unit of at least 50 honeybee colonies, each of 10 frames, run by one beekeeper or a group. The section on models below explains it.

The MIDH guidelines say the Centre pays 60% of the outlay and the state 40%, except in the North East and Himalayan states where the shares are 90% and 10%. Ask your state horticulture department which office takes the application for bee boxes, and by what date.

To fund your own share of the cost, four posts on this site cover loan routes. The KCC guide says KCC covers allied work such as beekeeping, the PMEGP post lists a bee keeping and honey unit as an allowed activity, and the CGTMSE post lists bee keeping and honey production among qualifying activities. The RBI circular summarised in the MISS post also names bee keeping among allied activities for short-term KCC loans.

The guidelines describe two models. Model I is for farmers and beekeepers who run beekeeping as a business with at least 50 colonies of 10 frames each, alone or in a group. Model II is for youth, startups and beekeepers who run a custom hiring centre of at least 1,000 colonies and hire them out for pollination.

In Model I the beekeepers are trained first and then encouraged to adopt scientific beekeeping with beehives, supers and other equipment. The guidelines say this serves two purposes: pollination support for the crops the beekeeper grows, and a viable small business.

In Model II the support goes to the infrastructure and equipment of the centre, including equipment for high-value hive products. The guidelines estimate a custom hiring centre at Rs 75 lakh with up to Rs 56.20 lakh as assistance, as the component table below shows. The details of both models are in Annexure III of the guidelines.

Individual beekeepers, SHGs, FIGs, cooperatives, FPOs and FPCs, societies, firms and companies in beekeeping and honey work can all benefit. For setting up infrastructure, the guidelines say the applicant must be registered with NBB, and individual beekeepers who are registered get priority. Government bodies, ICAR and universities take part as implementing agencies.

The guidelines add several conditions for societies, firms and companies that want to implement projects. These are the rules as written in section 9.

• Register on the Darpan portal of NITI Aayog (para 9.1).
• Hold NBB registration and membership for more than three years, pay the annual subscription regularly and show a good track record in beekeeping (para 9.2).
• For member bodies from the North East and Himalayan states, including Sikkim, the membership period needed is more than two years (para 9.2).
• Only entities registered with NBB can get benefits for setting up infrastructure under MM-I and MM-II. For individual beekeepers, NBB-registered ones get priority (para 9.3).

The PIB backgrounder describes beekeeping as an activity taken up by farmers and landless labourers in rural areas. The guidelines do not tie NBHM benefits to owning land. Any extra rule, such as a state resident condition or a minimum training period, is set by your state, so ask the district horticulture office.

Women groups get a special push. The guidelines give Rs 20,000 per group for forming a new group and Rs 50,000 per group as working capital, with priority to tribal women clusters. For how groups differ, see the post on SHG versus FPO.

For a project (a lab, processing unit, custom hiring centre or breeder unit), you prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in the prescribed proforma and submit it to the district horticulture or agriculture office. The district committee scrutinises it, the State Level Steering Committee recommends it and the state nodal agency sends it to NBB for approval.

1. Register yourself or your entity on the Madhukranti portal (the next section has the steps).
2. If you are a society, firm, company or FPO, check you meet the Darpan and membership rules above.
3. Pick the component from the guidelines and prepare a DPR with supporting papers in the proposal format (Appendix XX for infrastructure projects).
4. Attach the 1% processing charge as a demand draft in favour of National Bee Board, payable at New Delhi. ICAR institutes and agricultural universities are exempt.
5. Submit the proposal to the district horticulture or agriculture officer or the district level committee of your district.
6. The district committee examines it and recommends it to the State Level Steering Committee or the Director of Horticulture or Agriculture.
7. The state nodal agency sends the consolidated, approved proposals to NBB.
8. NBB examines them through its appraisal and approval committees. Funds reach the implementing agency in two instalments: the first at sanction and the second after a progress and utilisation report.

Some bodies skip the state step. ICAR institutes, agricultural universities, KVKs, NCDC, NAFED and similar central organisations can send proposals directly to NBB. Honey testing labs go to NBB through FSSAI, and bodies such as KVIC and TRIFED go through their own ministries. The appendices have the proformas, so keep the appendix file handy.

For bee boxes and an extractor for your own apiary, the MIDH norms in the earlier section apply, and the state horticulture department coordinates them. Ask that office how and when to apply.

Madhukranti (madhukranti.in/NBB) is the NBB portal for online registration of beekeepers and for tracing the source of honey and other hive products. The home page lists four categories: Individual Beekeeper, Firm, Beekeeping and Honey Society, and Company. The portal also has links for renewal, increasing bee colonies, aggregator or trader and processor registration, and life membership.

The portal's own Prerequisite for Registration note tells the beekeeper to have these ready before starting.

1. Your Aadhaar card, with name, date of birth and address correct. If not, correct them in Aadhaar first.
2. A mobile number linked to Aadhaar, because the OTP goes to it. Update it in Aadhaar if it is not linked.
3. Your beekeeping details (colonies, location) ready to enter.
4. A soft copy of your training certificate (maximum 200 KB) and a recent photograph (maximum 100 KB) to upload.
5. A way to pay the fee online, since the fee is payable only in online mode.

Pick your category on the portal home page and fill in the form. The fee depends on the number of colonies you keep. The table below is from the portal's fee chart page, read on 12 November 2026. Fees can change, so check the chart before you pay.

A small beekeeper with 50 colonies falls in the first row. As of the PIB document, 14,859 beekeepers, 269 beekeeping and honey societies, 150 firms and 206 companies had registered with NBB on the portal by 14 October 2025. For help, the portal lists the National Bee Board at B Wing, 2nd Floor, Janpath Bhawan, Janpath, New Delhi 110001, phone 011-23325265 and 011-23719025.

The table below sums up the papers to keep ready.

Follow what your state office hands you in writing.

For Mini Mission I projects, the guidelines give a cost estimate and a maximum assistance for each type. A custom hiring centre is estimated at Rs 75 lakh with up to Rs 56.20 lakh as assistance. A regional honey testing lab is estimated at Rs 2,000 lakh with up to Rs 800 lakh.

The guidelines also divide every infrastructure project into three cost parts. Buildings and sheds count up to 30% of their eligible cost, plant and machinery up to 100%, and manpower up to 10% for projects up to Rs 2 crore, 7% for projects above Rs 2 crore and up to Rs 5 crore, and 5% above Rs 5 crore. Management support is 6% of the sanctioned amount, shared 3.5% to the implementing agency and 2.5% to NBB (para 4.36).

Mini Mission II funds the steps after harvest: collection and branding centres, packaging and cold storage, processing plants, renovation of old plants and in-house testing labs. A processing or export unit costing up to Rs 500 lakh is considered, with up to Rs 300 lakh assistance. Packaging and cold storage can count 70% of building cost.

The guidelines explain why processing matters. Honey harvested in India can carry high moisture, and importing countries ask for lower moisture than domestic honey often has. Processing removes extra moisture, cleans the honey and separates wax. The guidelines of 2020 note that about half of India's honey was being exported, so quality decides sales.

If you plan to sell honey abroad, you will need export registration too. The APEDA registration post lists honey among the product groups that fall under APEDA.

The PIB backgrounder says 100 FPOs of beekeepers and honey producers were allotted under the national 10,000 FPO programme to TRIFED (14), NAFED (60) and NDDB (26), and that 97 of them had been registered or formed by March 2025. A beekeeper joins through the implementing agency active in the district.

The advantage of a group is in the subsidy table above: FPOs and similar groups get a 75% pattern against 50% for an individual. Model I in the guidelines also lets farmers take up beekeeping individually or in a cohesive group.

If you are choosing between a group and a producer company, read the SHG versus FPO comparison. For loan guarantee cover that an FPO can use, see the FPO credit guarantee scheme post. To find a honey FPO near you, ask the district horticulture officer or the district office of NAFED, NDDB or TRIFED.

The Madhukranti portal publishes a list of 37 potential training institutions for scientific beekeeping across India, including agricultural universities such as PAU Ludhiana, TNAU Coimbatore and Kerala Agricultural University, ICAR bodies, KVKs and the Central Bee Research and Training Institute at Pune. The portal also lists training schedules.

The guidelines describe four training modules: a general introductory course, training on scientific beekeeping, specialised training, and training on post-harvest management of hive products. The 2020 PIB release also says NBB had created four modules for training under NBHM.

Under the guidelines, a within-state physical training is for a batch of 25 participants over seven days, with up to Rs 1.75 lakh per training. Online training runs three days for 40 to 50 participants. Training is the step that gives you the certificate that the Madhukranti registration asks you to upload, so do it before you register.

The institution list on the portal names a contact person for each. Choose one in your own state, because the bee flora and the weather you will manage are local.

Apis cerana (Indian hive bee) is the domesticated species in India, and Apis mellifera (European or Italian bee) was imported from Europe. Apis dorsata (rock bee) is difficult to rear and Apis florea (little bee) is not rearable. TNAU lists 6 to 8 kg a year per colony for cerana and 25 to 40 kg for mellifera.

These are the averages on the TNAU Agritech page on honey bee types. Real yield changes with flora, season and management. The NBHM guidelines list A. cerana, A. mellifera, A. florea, A. dorsata, stingless bees and bumble bees for nucleus stock development.

Which species suits you depends on your area and flora. Ask your training institute or KVK which one is common nearby before you buy colonies, and note that the cerana and mellifera yields above differ by a wide margin.

The TNAU pollination page lists these yield increases from bee pollination: mustard 43%, sunflower 32 to 48%, cotton 17 to 19%, apple 44%, onion 93% and lucerne 112%. Crop-by-crop figures vary with the study method, so treat them as a guide to which crops gain most, not a promise for your field.

The ICAR Indian Farming article reproduces another table, from published research (Morse and Calderone 2000; Sharma et al. 2015), of the crop loss without bee pollination. It shows 10% for soybean, tomato and peanut, 20% for cotton and lemon, 30% for strawberry and lime, 40 to 70% for watermelon, 60% for carrot, 100% for cucumber and 70 to 100% for apple.

TNAU's advice for placing colonies is specific. Move colonies in at about 10% flowering, keep them near the field, use colonies of 5 to 6 frames strong with sealed brood and a young mated queen, and place 3 colonies per hectare of Italian bee or 5 per hectare of Indian honey bee. On sunflower it asks for five strong Indian bee colonies or three A. mellifera colonies. TNAU also says bees forage within about 1 to 2 km of the hive, and the best number of colonies can range from 3 to 9 per hectare depending on crop, colony strength and weather.

The same page says about 50 million hectares of crops in India depend on bees, which would need 150 million colonies at 3 per hectare, against 1.2 million colonies it records. The page carries a 2013 copyright, so read these as the size of the gap, not current counts. The NBHM guidelines (para 4.14) add Custom Hiring Centres to supply colonies on hire to farmers who need pollination support.

Our own crop guides carry the field side. The watermelon post says to bring honey bees when female flowers open, and the cucumber post lists poor pollination, with few bees, as a cause of crooked fruit.

They can, but only if farmers and beekeepers plan together. The NBHM guidelines say technology demonstrations should reduce conflict between farmers and beekeepers by showing what bees do for yield. The ICAR article recommends integrated pest management that keeps chemical use need-based and aimed at minimising harm to bees.

On flowering crops, avoid spraying when bees are working. Our mango flower guide advises stopping sprays at full bloom so bees can pollinate. If you hire colonies for pollination, tell the beekeeper before you spray.

Your KVK or state horticulture department can give a bee-safe spray schedule for your crop and area.

Yes. Honey is regulated by FSSAI standards, and NBHM funds regional and district honey testing labs so that beekeepers can check quality. An FSSAI advisory of 7 November 2025 says the honey standard sets maximum HMF at 80 mg/kg, and a sample above that limit is classed "Substandard", not "Unsafe".

The FSSAI advisory explains that its Scientific Panel found too little research to link higher HMF with a safety risk, so HMF is treated as a quality parameter for now.

Check the conditions in the guidelines first: NBB registration, Darpan registration, enough years of NBB membership, a DPR in the proposal format, and the right route through the district and state. The proposal in Appendix XX then asks for the details in the list below.

• Name, location and principal officer of the organisation, with its existing beekeeping, processing and storage facilities and staff.
• Details of ongoing and completed beekeeping projects of the last five years, and bank account details.
• Project title, location, duration in months, total cost (capital and recurring) and the amount asked from NBB.
• Background, objectives, links with research institutions or NGOs, and a step-by-step method that covers area selection, beekeeping status in the area and group formation.
• The component-wise physical and financial details, a work plan, expected output, likely impact and how the project will last.
• The DPR with supporting papers, plus the 1% processing charge as a demand draft, as the proforma note says.

The proforma asks you to give thrust to Sansad Adarsh Villages, tribal areas and areas affected by elephants when you select the project area. The processing charge is non-refundable if the proposal is considered for funding. Common mistakes that follow from the rules:

• Applying as an individual without a Madhukranti registration, when registered beekeepers get priority.
• A society or company with under three years of NBB membership (two years in the North East and Himalayan states).
• No Darpan portal registration for the society or firm.
• A DPR without the supporting documents asked for in the proforma.
• Sending the file straight to NBB when your category must go through the state department first.

Conclusion

NBHM is a Rs 500 crore central scheme, run through the National Bee Board, that pays for training, labs, processing, custom hiring centres and research, with a stated pattern of 50%, 75%, 90% or 100% depending on who you are and where. A farmer who only wants bee boxes will mostly use the MIDH route, which gives 40% on Rs 4,000 colony units up to 50 colonies and 40% on an equipment set. Get trained, register on Madhukranti, ask your district horticulture office which route and which date applies to you, and keep the papers in the form the guidelines ask for.