ATISIS — 3% Interest Subvention on Working Capital, Up to ₹20L for Assam Tea

Interest Subvention on Working Capital is one component of the Assam Tea Industries Special Incentives Scheme (ATISIS), administered by the Finance (Institutional Finance) Department of the Government of Assam. It exists to keep the state's tea gardens and tea factories financially steady, and to make borrowing for day-to-day operations cheaper.

A qualifying unit receives a 3% per annum interest subvention on its working capital loan. The relief is capped at ₹20,00,000 per unit per year, and it reaches the unit as a reimbursement credited straight into the beneficiary's bank account through Direct Benefit Transfer.

Delivery is shared. The Finance Department and the Industries & Commerce Department work together, and applications and claims move through Scheduled Commercial Banks, Public Financial Institutions and District Industries & Commerce Centres located across Assam. Every application is filed online on a single state portal.

There is a second, strategic aim. ATISIS encourages Assam's manufacturers to move from Crush, Tear, Curl (CTC) production towards Orthodox tea, which generally commands higher prices, and to diversify into speciality teas such as Green, Oolong, White, Yellow and Purple. The component runs across five financial years — 2023-24 to 2027-28 — and covers loans sanctioned or renewed from 1 April of the year in which the claim is made. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis rather than against a fixed deadline.

• 3% per annum interest subvention on working capital loans
• Benefit capped at ₹20,00,000 per unit per annum
• Reimbursed straight to your bank account via DBT
• Open to tea plantation and manufacturing units located entirely in Assam
• Available for FY 2023-24 through FY 2027-28
• Encourages a shift from CTC to Orthodox and speciality tea

To claim this subvention, your unit must be a tea plantation and manufacturing business located entirely within Assam, and it must actually be producing tea — Crush, Tear, Curl (CTC), Orthodox, or a speciality variety such as Green, Oolong, White, Yellow or Purple tea.

• Location: the whole unit has to sit inside Assam.
• Lender: the working capital loan must come from a Scheduled Commercial Bank or a Public Financial Institution, and must be for tea plantation or tea manufacturing activity.
• Loan timing: it must have been sanctioned or renewed on or after 1 April of the financial year in which you file the claim, and no later than FY 2027-28.
• Account health: on the date of filing, none of your loan accounts may be classified as a Non-Performing Asset under RBI norms.
• No double dipping: you must not have taken interest subsidy for the same purpose under any other scheme.

No separate DPIIT recognition or MSME registration is listed as a condition for this component — the tests are the location and nature of your tea unit and the standing of your working capital loan.

ATISIS — 3% Interest Subvention on Working Capital, Up to ₹20L for Assam Tea is open to startups at any stage. It is open to startups registered anywhere in India.

ATISIS — 3% Interest Subvention on Working Capital, Up to ₹20L for Assam Tea accepts applications on a rolling basis — there is no fixed cut-off date, so eligible startups can apply at any time. Because rolling programmes can pause without notice, confirm the window is still open on the official site before you start.

3% interest subvention: the state absorbs 3% per annum of the interest on your working capital loan, reducing the effective cost of your borrowing.

Annual ceiling of ₹20,00,000: a single tea manufacturing unit (garden) cannot claim more than ₹20 lakh in a financial year.

Five years of cover: the benefit is available for FY 2023-24, 2024-25, 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28.

Paid as a DBT reimbursement: the amount is transferred directly into your bank account, with no intermediary in the chain, once a financial year is completed.

Beyond the cash: the scheme also works as a strategic push, prompting Assam's tea makers to modernise and diversify — particularly by shifting towards Orthodox tea, which typically sells at a premium to CTC.

ATISIS — 3% Interest Subvention on Working Capital, Up to ₹20L for Assam Tea is offered by Finance (Institutional Finance) Department, Government of Assam, a government body. As a government-backed subsidy, it is publicly funded and open to eligible startups across India.

Claims are not judged by a selection committee. They are verified against bank records and then routed between two government departments.

• Routing to the bank: as soon as you submit on the portal, your application is automatically sent to the concerned bank.
• Bank verification: the bank checks the interest amount at 3%, your borrower credentials, whether the loan account is classified as 'Standard', and whether interest has been serviced.
• Approval on the portal: if the bank's verification is satisfactory, the application is approved on the portal itself.
• Forwarding by Industries & Commerce: claims found to be in order are passed on by the Commissioner, Industries & Commerce Department, to the Finance Department.
• Reimbursement by the Finance Department: the Finance Department processes the claim and releases the subsidy online as a Direct Benefit Transfer to your registered bank account.

Before you apply to ATISIS — 3% Interest Subvention on Working Capital, Up to ₹20L for Assam Tea, keep the following documents ready:

• A pitch deck or short business plan describing the problem, product and traction
• Company registration documents and PAN
• Founder identification (PAN / Aadhaar) and brief profiles
• Recent financial statements or projections
• Product details — a demo, prototype or working link if available

Exact requirements are confirmed on the official application portal — treat this as a preparation checklist.

ATISIS — 3% Interest Subvention on Working Capital, Up to ₹20L for Assam Tea is best suited for startups in India seeking non-dilutive funding of ₹20L. If that describes your startup, review the eligibility criteria above before applying.