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The Indian agriculture sector, supporting 58% of the population, contributes 18% to India’s GDP and ranks among the world's leading agriculture producers.
While India is a food surplus economy, challenges in efficient global and domestic marketing persist, impacting farm incomes regardless of harvest quality.
Despite comparative advantages in processing, the country's share in global agri exports remains low.
Grant Thornton Bharat strives to address constraints like small holdings, low productivity, regulatory concerns, distress sales, and post-harvest losses, aiming to propel the sector towards global market leadership.
We implement development projects at the field level: establishing startups, promoting MSME clusters, supporting FPOs, and strengthening national and regional value chains.
We form productive partnerships with public and private business development providers, enterprises, and institutions at national and international levels to deliver comprehensive services.
We specialise in developing agri-stacks, farmer digitisation, marketing portals, auction facilities, and more to enhance digital services in the agriculture sector.
Grant Thornton Bharat stands as a prominent service provider in agri-business and agriculture, deploying over 450 professionals across 20 states in India and abroad. Our expertise spans various aspects:
Grant Thornton Bharat has played a pivotal role in shaping the INR 10,000 crore horticulture cluster development programme, strategically contributing to its progressive implementation across 53 clusters nationwide. The firm has provided valuable insights for schemes initiated by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), including the ‘Backward and Forward Linkage’ scheme and the substantial INR 6,000 crore ‘Central Sector Scheme for Formation and Promotion of 10,000 FPOs’ by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA). We have also crafted strategies for the food processing industries in states such as Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir.
As a project management agency, the Firm has been instrumental in designing programmes ranging from INR 800 to INR 2,000 crore each in Maharashtra (MAGNET-ADB, SMART-WB), Himachal Pradesh (HPSHIVA-ADB), and Kerala (KERA-WB).
The firm has successfully overseen the execution of substantial horticulture cluster development programme and agricultural value chain development initiatives, with funding exceeding INR 4,000 crore from entities such as the World Bank and Asia Development Bank.
In states like Assam, expansive MSME cluster development is in progress under World Bank-supported programmes. The focus is on establishing technical infrastructure, common facilities, and providing a spectrum of business development services. This strategic approach aims to competitively evolve the regional agri-business value chain. Similar programmes are also being developed and implemented in states such as Maharashtra.
The firm has collaborated with over 1,500 farmers' producer organisations (FPOs) across 20 states. This collaboration spans World Bank, ADB-supported programmes, the Central Sector Scheme, Central/State SFACs, and prominent foundations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The firm serves as the technical support agency for the State Rural Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) in states such as West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Gujarat, etc. A demonstration model has been crafted, and the firm is actively involved in developing more than 120 exclusively women Self-Help Group (SHG)-led Farmers' Producer Organizations (FPOs) across six Indian states. The objective is to significantly increase income for over 500,000 marginal and small women farmers, aligning closely with the initiatives of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).
Promoting the diffusion of advanced technologies, the firm specialises in offering DigiTech services within the water management and irrigation sector in India and Nepal. We collaborate extensively with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to develop livelihood strategies targeting marginalised populations such as the poor, women, and youth in Africa.
As the sole Indian registered firm empanelled with UNIDO Vienna, we provide services related to establishing agri-business infrastructure in developing nations, particularly in Africa. Pioneering technology diffusion, the firm introduced state-of-the-art glass greenhouses in India in consultation with the Government of the Netherlands. Moreover, the firm showcases its proficiency in fostering entrepreneurship within agri-business start-ups through various programmes led by the World Bank and foundations.
Union Budget 2026 should shift India’s health system from hospital-centric treatment to prevention-led care by boosting primary health services, mission-mode NCD and cancer screening, mental health programmes, frontline health workforces and cross-sector public health interventions for long-term resilience and productivity.
Economic Survey 2025-26 outlines India’s macroeconomic performance, growth drivers, inflation dynamics and fiscal consolidation, offering key policy signals ahead of the Union Budget 2026
India’s farm mechanisation story over the past decade has been one of scale rather than transformation.
The Union Budget 2025 sets a bold and strategic direction towards achieving a 'Viksit Bharat' by introducing transformative measures for agricultural growth, rural prosperity, inclusivity, employment-led development, investment in people and innovation.
Manual with operational guidelines for promotion of agri-business enterprises
A Manual for Empowering Farmer Producer Organisations, New Delhi 2023
Maharashtra Agricultural Competitiveness Project, Govt. of Maharashtra, Pune 2018. Book released by Hon. Union Minister of Agriculture in the presence of all state minister for Agriculture
