Modi Releases Rs 18,690 Crore to 9.34 Crore Farmer Families

Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 24th instalment of the PM-KISAN income support scheme on Friday, October 30, transferring more than Rs 18,690 crore directly to the bank accounts of over 9.34 crore farmer families across India.

The release was made at an event in Banaskantha in Gujarat, held as a national PM Kisan Utsav Diwas. The Agriculture Ministry said the first 23 instalments of the scheme have together moved more than Rs 4.47 lakh crore to eligible farmers through direct benefit transfer.

PM-KISAN, launched on February 24, 2019, pays eligible landholding farmer families Rs 6,000 a year in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000, sent straight to Aadhaar linked bank accounts. The 24th payment is part of that regular cycle, and its size reflects how wide the scheme's register has grown.

Farm buildings alongside the cash

Along with the instalment, 521 units built with support from the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund and 12 horticulture clusters were inaugurated at the programme, aimed at storage, processing and higher value crops. The Gujarat visit also carried development projects worth more than Rs 14,000 crore in Banaskantha district, according to reports of the two day programme.

In Gujarat itself, more than 52.33 lakh farmer families were to receive assistance of over Rs 1,051 crore from this instalment, state officials said ahead of the event. In Haryana, more than 16 lakh farmer families received a total of Rs 324.7 crore, and the state's cumulative support through the 24 instalments reached Rs 8,206.3 crore, Mirror Now reported.

Why the payment matters this week

For most families on the register, Rs 2,000 is a small sum with a specific job: seed, fertilizer, diesel or a loan payment at the start of a crop cycle. The transfer landed in the middle of the rabi sowing season in much of northern India, when input costs fall due at once. State governments held their own events to mark the release, and farmers can check their payment status on the PM-KISAN portal, though eligibility checks and verification still decide who is paid in each round.

Key numbers

Instalment released: more than Rs 18,690 crore. Families paid: over 9.34 crore. Payment per family in this instalment: Rs 2,000, one of three yearly payments that total Rs 6,000. Paid through the first 23 instalments: more than Rs 4.47 lakh crore. Also inaugurated: 521 Agriculture Infrastructure Fund units and 12 horticulture clusters.

What happens next

On Saturday, October 31, India marks Rashtriya Ekta Diwas, National Unity Day, on the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Modi was scheduled to offer floral tributes at the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar and to inaugurate and lay foundation stones for development projects there, closing the two day Gujarat programme.