PM-KISAN

Nearly 9.5 crore farmer families get a direct bank transfer, four times a year, with no middleman in between. This article covers PM-KISAN: how the scheme works, its track record, and its 2026 five-year extension.

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Indian Economy · IndEco0131

PM-KISAN

Direct farmer income support, 2019 to 2031

Feb 2019

PM-KISAN launched, effective retroactively from 1 December 2018.

2020-21

Over ₹1.71 lakh crore disbursed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

2026

23rd instalment released. Over ₹4.47 lakh crore transferred to farmers, cumulatively.

31 Jul 2026

Cabinet approves a 5-year extension, through 2030-31, at ₹3.15 lakh crore.

From relief to standing pillar

PM-KISAN’s 5-year extension moves it from a periodically-renewed scheme to a fixed, multi-year commitment in India’s farm policy.

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Must Know

• PM-KISAN (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi) was launched in February 2019. Payments were made effective retroactively, from 1 December 2018.
• Eligible landholding farmer families receive ₹6,000 a year, in three equal instalments of ₹2,000 each. Payments go directly into bank accounts, through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).
• PM-KISAN is a Central Sector Scheme, meaning it is fully funded by the Central Government, with no state-government cost-sharing.
• Income tax payers and certain high-income professional categories are excluded from eligibility.
• On 31 July 2026, the Cabinet approved a five-year extension of the scheme, from 2026-27 to 2030-31, with a ₹3.15 lakh crore outlay.

Good to Know

• As of the scheme’s 23rd instalment, more than ₹4.47 lakh crore has been transferred to farmers in total.
• The 23rd instalment alone reached more than 9.49 crore farmers, releasing over ₹18,984 crore.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, PM-KISAN disbursed more than ₹1.71 lakh crore to farmers.
• Women farmers have received more than ₹1.06 lakh crore under the scheme. Nearly one in four beneficiaries is a woman.
• An evaluation by NITI Aayog‘s Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) found that over 92% of beneficiaries used the funds for agricultural activity. About 85% reported improved agricultural income and reduced dependence on informal credit.

Test Yourself

Please wait…

1. In what month and year was PM-KISAN launched?

December 2018

February 2019

January 2020

August 2019

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Great to Know

• The government links PM-KISAN to broader foodgrain gains between 2020-21 and 2025-26: cultivated area up about 9.65%, productivity up about 10.53%, and total production up about 21.18%. PM-KISAN is one input among several, alongside irrigation, MSP, and fertiliser subsidy, so this growth can’t be attributed to income support alone.
• PM-KISAN’s Aadhaar-based DBT model has become a template for other large-scale transfer schemes. Digital identity verification at this scale helps reduce leakage, a longstanding problem in India’s older subsidy systems.
• The 2026 extension’s five-year horizon marks a shift in how the scheme is framed. A periodically-renewed relief measure becomes a fixed, multi-year commitment. This mirrors how other major welfare schemes are now funded in defined cycles, rather than year to year.

Current Affairs

• On 31 July 2026, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved continuation of PM-KISAN from 2026-27 to 2030-31. The approved outlay is ₹3.15 lakh crore over the period. (Source: PIB)
• Alongside the extension, the government cited foodgrain growth for 2020-21 to 2025-26: cultivated area up roughly 9.65%, productivity up roughly 10.53%, and total production up roughly 21.18%.
• The announcement reiterated PM-KISAN’s core structure unchanged: ₹6,000 a year, in three instalments, via Direct Benefit Transfer, for eligible landholding farmer families.