Centre Approves Additional Charge for IAS Officer Deepak Agarwal as MD of Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has given ex-post facto approval to a key administrative decision involving senior IAS officer Mr Deepak Agarwal of the 2000 batch from the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
According to the order, Shri Agarwal—who is currently serving as the Managing Director of the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED)—has been entrusted with the additional responsibility of serving as the Managing Director of the Small Farmers’ Agri-Business Consortium (SFAC).
Both NAFED and SFAC function under the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare in the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, making the dual assignment an important step to ensure seamless coordination across key agricultural agencies.
The ACC’s ex-post facto approval confirms that Shri Agarwal has been handling this additional charge since 28 August 2025, and he will continue in this role until a regular Managing Director is appointed or until further government orders are issued, whichever happens earlier.
This additional responsibility places Mr Agarwal in charge of two major organisations—
NAFED, which is responsible for cooperative marketing, procurement and price support operations, and
SFAC, which focuses on strengthening agri-business ventures for small and marginal farmers, promoting FPOs, and supporting farmer-centric value chains.
By giving him charge of both institutions, the government aims to ensure better alignment between procurement, marketing, and farmer-oriented agri-business initiatives. The decision also helps avoid any leadership gap at SFAC during this transition period.
