PM to release 19th instalment of Kisan Nidhi from Bihar

Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters on February 21, 2025, that in the 18th installment, farmers received about ₹20,665 crore.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the 19th installment of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi on February 24 at a function to be held at Bhagalpur in Bihar. About 9.80 crore beneficiaries will receive ₹2,000 in their accounts for which the Centre has allocated ₹22,000 crore. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told reporters on Friday (February 21, 2025) that in the 18th installment, farmers received about ₹20,665 crore.

Mr. Chouhan said farmers’ welfare was the top priority of the Narendra Modi government and that his Ministry was working continuously to increase production, reduce input costs, provide fair prices for the produce, compensate for crop losses and diversify agriculture. He added that the Ministry has also been ensuring that no eligible farmer has been left out from the scheme, which was started in 2019.

So far, about ₹3.46 lakh crore has been deposited in the accounts of farmers, the Minister said. “As soon as the 19th instalment is released, a total of ₹3.68 lakh crore will reach the accounts of farmers,” he added. “Farmers meet the necessary expenses related to agriculture from this fund,” he said. Citing a study, he claimed that the funds have helped in removing farmers’ loan constraints.

MIS for Andhra’s red chilli farmers

Mr. Chouhan also chaired a high-level meeting with the officials of his Ministry on the issues of red chilli farmers of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had asked the Centre to help the farmers using the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) as the prices of red chilli had decreased recently.

Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu and Union Agriculture Secretary Devesh Chaturvedi also attended the meeting. In a statement released after the meeting, the Ministry said that Mr. Chouhan has directed the Indian Council of Agricultural Research to review the production cost of red chilli in Andhra Pradesh and submit a report on it.