Marketing Minister Rawal inaugurates ‘MAGNET Agribusiness Infrastructure Investor Meet’
Mumbai, September 2026: Maharashtra will develop modern agricultural infrastructure on a large scale through ‘MAGNET 2.0’ to transform the state from merely an agricultural producer into a leading hub for value addition, processing and export of agricultural produce, Marketing Minister and Chairman of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board Jaykumar Rawal said.
He said investment opportunities worth more than Rs 1,000 crore would be created for six agricultural commodity clusters — bananas, pomegranates, mangoes, citrus fruits, cashews and turmeric — and appealed to the private sector to participate as partners in the initiative.
Rawal was speaking at the ‘MAGNET Agribusiness Infrastructure Investor Meet’ held in Mumbai. Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board Director MLA Charansingh Thakur, Chief Minister’s Principal Economic Adviser and CEO of MITRA Pravin Pardeshi, Marketing Department Principal Secretary Pravin Darade, Secretary of the General Administration Department’s Protocol, Foreign Direct Investment and NRI Affairs departments and Chief Protocol Officer Dr Rajesh Gawande, Marketing Director and Executive Director of the Maharashtra State Agricultural Marketing Board Sanjay Kadam, General Manager and MAGNET Project Director Vinayak Kokare, Asian Development Bank Director Takeshi Ueda, Krishan Routela and consuls general from various countries were present.
Rawal said there was a need to simultaneously promote investment in agriculture, infrastructure development, value addition, employment generation and better returns for farmers. He highlighted Maharashtra’s diverse agro-climatic zones, large base of farmers and farmer-producer companies, developed markets, industrial ecosystem and transport connectivity with domestic and international markets.
MAGNET 1.0 Strengthened Infrastructure and Value Chains
Rawal said significant work had been undertaken during the first phase of MAGNET to strengthen infrastructure and value chains. More than 280 sub-projects were supported, while cold storage capacity of around 47,000 metric tonnes was created.
Through capacity-building initiatives, more than 33,000 farmers benefited. The programme directly impacted around 2.32 lakh farmers, of whom approximately 43 per cent were women.
Crop losses declined by around 8.73 per cent under MAGNET, while private investment of approximately Rs 275 crore was generated. The initiative also created around 4,300 direct employment opportunities, with women accounting for 48 per cent of these jobs.
MAGNET 2.0 to Focus on Integrated Infrastructure
The second phase of MAGNET will focus on integrated infrastructure. MAGNET 2.0 has a total funding allocation of $250 million, with support from the Asian Development Bank and the Maharashtra government.
While the first phase covered 15 value chains, the second phase will include 23 value chains. The objective is to reach more than four lakh farmers, strengthen and develop 200 farmer-producer companies, and provide training to 1.15 lakh members.
Under MAGNET 2.0, large-scale cold chains, agri-logistics centres, processing and value-addition facilities, aggregation and grading infrastructure, and export-oriented facilities will be developed.
For the six identified commodity clusters, the government plans to create annual handling capacity of around six lakh metric tonnes and more than one lakh metric tonnes of cold-storage capacity.
Expressions of Interest will soon be invited for these projects. Rawal said suggestions from the industry would be important in ensuring that the projects are commercially viable and attractive for long-term investment.
International Agricultural Market Proposed Near Dahanu
Rawal said the Maharashtra government plans to establish a world-class international agricultural market across approximately 1,300 acres at Dahanu in Palghar district to connect the state’s agricultural produce with global markets.
The proposed market has the potential to be connected by road, rail, sea and air transport and is intended to become an international hub for agricultural trade and logistics.
The government envisages the facility as more than a wholesale market. It is expected to bring international buyers, exporters, transport and logistics companies, cold-chain operators, processing industries, technology companies and farmer-producer companies onto a common platform.
Focus on Government-Private Sector Partnership
Rawal said the transformation of the agricultural sector could be accelerated through government and private-sector investment.
The government would focus on infrastructure, financial support, institutional capacity and strengthening market systems, while the private sector could contribute capital, technology, processing expertise, efficient management, innovation and market linkages.
He said the private sector should therefore be viewed not merely as beneficiaries of projects but as partners in the transformation process.
MAGNET 2.0 and the proposed international agricultural market have been aligned with the vision of ‘Developed Maharashtra 2047’. The objective is to move the state’s agricultural sector from production to value addition, from fragmented supply chains to integrated value chains, and from domestic markets to global markets.
Rawal said these efforts could help farmers secure greater value, create employment opportunities in rural areas and strengthen Maharashtra’s role in global agricultural trade.
He said MAGNET 1.0 had laid the foundation, while MAGNET 2.0 offered an opportunity for large-scale expansion. The proposed international agricultural market at Dahanu would seek to connect this expansion with national and global markets.
He called upon the government and private sector to work together towards investment in agricultural infrastructure, value creation and greater prosperity for farmers.
During the panel discussions, Sahyadri Farms Chairman Vilas Shinde, Azhar Pathan of VIGRO, Chirag Jain, Jinesh Shah of Omnivore, Salath Khan of Flipkart, exporter Kaushal Khakkar and Asian Development Bank’s Krishan Routela shared their views.
Canada Consul General Jeff David, Mauritius Consul General Dushant K. Bakthowar, Czech Republic Consul General Katerina Vovkova, Egypt Consul General Dahlia Tawalkot, Italy Consul General Walter Ferrara, John Nickel, Head of the Political and Bilateral Affairs Department at the British Deputy High Commission, Argentina Deputy Consul General Ezequiel Mariano Chabe, Karina Shihota from the Political, Economic and Public Affairs Department of the Canadian Consulate, South Korean Consul Hyewon Song, French Consul Camille Dondenas and Farhana Ahmed Chowdhury, along with Vilas Shinde of Sahyadri Farms, Azhar Pathan, investors, trade representatives and other dignitaries, were present.
