Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has been underscoring the need of sustainable farm mechanization which helps farmers to improve from subsistence farming to market-oriented commercial farming and make it more attractive for rural youth. Farm mechanization in India is gathering momentum but making farm equipment affordable for small and marginal farmers who comprise the majority of farmers in the country remains a key challenge. The average land holding of 86% of farmers in India is less than two hectares due to which these small and marginal farmers purchasing costly farm equipment is not possible. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Food Processing has recommended to the central government to raise farm mechanization in the country from the current level of 47% to 75% within a much shorter period than the target of 25 years set by the government. Availability of more farm power for small and marginal farmers at affordable cost, as recommended by the parliamentary panel, is crucial. The Committee notes in one of its latest report that the Government has introduced custom hiring of farm equipments, wherein a group of farmers can own and share the machines among themselves at mutually agreed charges by maintaining the Farm Machinery Bank. The Committee observation that delivery points at Block and District Levels in case of Agricultural Machinery are almost missing, and there is no engineering manpower to demonstrate, train, help in repairs/maintenance and guide farmers at their doorstep point towards a critical gap which needs to be addressed on priority basis. Establishment of Directorate of Engineering in each state and appointment of agricultural engineers at Block and District Level, according to the committee, can help bridge the gap. The Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization’ (SMAM) implemented since 2014 has the provision for incentives to small and marginal farmers and the regions for increasing the reach of farm mechanization where availability of farm power is low. Under the scheme, the Custom Hiring Centres (CHC) is also promoted to facilitate small and marginal farmers to avail the benefits of very high cost but efficient farm machines without heavy investment for the individual ownership. The operational guideline of SMAM states that each CHC of agricultural machinery/implements will have the capacity to cover minimum area of 10 ha/day and at least 300 ha in a cropping season. Machines can be hired for entire operations from land development to residue management while farmers can own and share those among themselves at mutually agreed charges by maintaining the Farm Machinery Bank under the scheme. Small and marginal farmers along with the farmers from SC, ST, women and north-eastern states get additional subsidy of 10% than the farmers of general category but data shows wide regional disparity with the Northeast region accounting for the lowest farm mechanization. The parliamentary panel’s insistence that instead of sub-scheme on Sub-Mission of Agricultural Mechanization, government should have full-fledged Agriculture Mechanization Scheme to accelerate the process can also go a long way in changing the scenario in the northeast region. Assam with more than 26,000 villages have about 27 lakh farm families of which 85 % are small and marginal farmers with averaging land holding of only 0.36 hectare but the state has so far established only eight CHCs and 393 farm machinery banks. Punjab with less than 13,000 villages with about 35% small and marginal farmer has established 250 CHCs and 1000 farm machinery banks and the state having about 65% farmers with landing holding more than 2 hectares, farm mechanization has almost researched saturation limit. This comparative picture also speaks volume about the potential of agricultural growth in Assam if farm mechanization is pushed a massive way. The parliamentary panel states that there is an urgent need to conduct a systematic study to know the mechanization level in the country in purely objective terms. While national level study is crucial for the central government to review policy implementation, articulate new policy intervention and set new goals, states, more particularly in the northeast region, undertaking comprehensive study to assess their current mechanization level, gaps, financial requirement, affordability etc. can help set realistic targets and push mechanization at a faster pace. Such studies need to reflect ground realities of share of small, marginal, medium and big farmers in the current level of mechanization with findings based on size of land holdings. It will ensure that there is no complacency over the larger picture of farm mechanization driven by investment by medium and large farmers who can afford to buy or hire costly farm equipment. Assam has made significant progress in procurement of paddy over the last two years. A strong policy push can help the state achieve farm mechanization at a faster pace and achieve its goal of doubling farmers’ income.