Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, 20 June 2026, released the 23rd instalment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme from Tarakeswar, Hooghly district, West Bengal, disbursing more than ₹18,880 crore to approximately 9.44 crore farmer families across the country via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The Chief Minister's Office of Gujarat announced that Gujarat's 51 lakh-plus farmer families received more than ₹1,025 crore credited directly into their bank accounts under the release.

Context

The CMO Gujarat's post, written in Gujarati, stated: 'માનનીય વડાપ્રધાન શ્રી નરેન્દ્રભાઈ મોદીએ... ₹18,880 કરોડથી વધુની સહાયનું DBTના માધ્યમથી વિતરણ કર્યું' ('Honourable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi distributed assistance of more than ₹18,880 crore via DBT'). The release event was held in Tarakeswar, a town in Hooghly district of West Bengal, a state not governed by the ruling party at the Centre — a venue choice that underscores the scheme's intended pan-India reach.

Each eligible farmer family receives ₹6,000 per year under PM-KISAN, paid in three four-monthly instalments of ₹2,000 each directly into their registered bank accounts. The 23rd instalment marks over seven years of continuous disbursal since the scheme's launch in early 2019.

Policy Backdrop

PM-KISAN was announced in the February 2019 interim Union Budget as a central sector scheme to provide income support to landholding farmer families, with the first instalments rolling out the same year. The scheme relies entirely on the Direct Benefit Transfer infrastructure to route funds without intermediaries, a design intended to eliminate leakages that historically plagued agricultural subsidy delivery.

Successive instalments have progressively expanded the beneficiary base and refined the verification process, including Aadhaar-seeding and land-record linkages. The periodic releases have become a recurring policy moment that allows the central government to reaffirm its agricultural welfare commitment on a national stage.

Stakeholders and Impact

Nationally, the 23rd instalment reached 9.44 crore farmer families — a figure that reflects both the scale of India's smallholder agricultural sector and the administrative reach of the DBT system. For Gujarat specifically, more than 51 lakh farmer families stand to benefit from the ₹1,025 crore-plus transferred in this cycle alone.

Small and marginal farmers, who constitute the majority of India's agricultural workforce, are the primary beneficiaries. The direct bank transfer model means funds arrive without delay or deduction, offering a predictable income supplement that farmers can use for seeds, fertilisers, or household expenditure between harvests.

What's Next

The next instalment cycle under PM-KISAN is expected in approximately four months, consistent with the scheme's quarterly disbursal rhythm. Policy watchers will monitor whether the upcoming Union Budget revises the per-farmer annual support amount of ₹6,000 — a figure that has remained unchanged since the scheme's inception — or adjusts the eligibility criteria to bring more farmer families into the fold.

The Gujarat government's active communication of state-specific figures signals an ongoing effort to connect national welfare delivery with local political visibility, a pattern likely to continue through subsequent instalment releases.