PM Kisan In Budget 2026 Gets Rs. 63,500 Crore: Is There Any Change?

The Union Budget for the financial year 2026-27 earmarked Rs. 63,500 crore, which will be allocated for the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme. The amount allocated to the scheme remains unchanged from last year’s Budget.

The PM-Kisan scheme was launched in 2019 to provide income support to farmer families. Under the scheme, every land-holding farmer family receives Rs. 6,000 per year as benefits. This comes as a direct benefit transfer in three equal tranches during the year. While there were expectations that the amount received by each farmer family could rise in the Budget, the government kept a status quo with the same amount of funds allocated in the Budget as the previous year.  

In FY24, the actual expenditure by the government on the scheme marginally exceeded the Budget estimate, with Rs. 61,441 crore spent. The allocation for FY25 was kept unchanged at Rs. 60,000 crore, but the revised estimates show that the government spent Rs. 66,121 crore. The Budget estimate for the scheme was increased to Rs. 63,500 crore in the FY26 Budget.

According to the government, over 10 crore beneficiaries have been covered through the PM-Kisan scheme. It also claims that the government has transferred over Rs. 3.7 lakh crore to beneficiaries since its inception in 2019.

Farmer organisations had asked for increased assistance under the PM-Kisan scheme, saying that the subsistence of Rs. 6,000 annually is not enough to cover the rise in cultivation costs. Farmers had demanded that the benefits be increased to Rs. 9,000-12,000 annually, but the government retained the existing allocation despite the demands, as the government is on a path to fiscal consolidation.

Though the allocation amount was not increased in the Budget, the continuity of the scheme without any interruption has helped to retain farmers’ trust. The PM-Kisan scheme continues to play a pivotal role in providing subsistence and strengthening the rural economy. Farmers remain hopeful that the benefits could be enhanced in future policy decisions.

When is the Next Instalment due?

Farmers are set to receive Rs. 2,000 through the 22nd instalment of the scheme by the end of February. The main objective of the PM-Kisan scheme is to support farmers engaged in the agricultural sector or agriculture-related occupations. Any farming family which has a landholding can obtain the benefits under the scheme.