India’s ₹6,000-a-year PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme will disburse its 23rd installment of ₹2,000 to over 11 crore farmers by April 15, 2026, the Agriculture Ministry confirmed on April 3. This payment marks the eighth cycle since the scheme’s launch on February 24, 2019. So far, the government has transferred over ₹2.5 lakh crore directly into farmers’ bank accounts under the program.
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) provides ₹6,000 annually in three equal installments of ₹2,000 each. Payments are typically made around the first week of April, July, and November. The 23rd installment follows the 22nd, which was issued on December 27, 2025. For the 2025-26 fiscal year, the government allocated ₹90,000 crore for the scheme. As of March 31, 2026, 11.07 crore farmers have been verified and are eligible for benefits.
Farmers must immediately check their beneficiary status on the official portal pmkisan.gov.in. The website saw 8.3 million visits on April 2 alone, according to the National Informatics Centre. To verify, enter your Aadhaar number or account number. If your name appears, the installment will be credited automatically to your linked bank account. The Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare stated that 98% of beneficiaries have their Aadhaar numbers seeded with bank accounts.
And many farmers still encounter errors due to mismatched names between Aadhaar, bank records, and land documents. In Uttar Pradesh, 12.4 lakh farmers’ names were corrected in March 2026 after discrepancies were found. A senior agriculture official in Lucknow told ABP Live on April 2, “We’ve deployed 1,500 help desk staff across districts to assist farmers with verification issues.” The helpline number 155261 received 4.2 lakh calls last week.
But exclusion from the list often stems from simple oversights. Common reasons include: inactive bank accounts, non-seeding of Aadhaar, or land records not updated after sale or inheritance. For instance, in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region, 22,000 tenant farmers were initially excluded because their names weren’t in the 7/12 land extract. The state government later included them after protests.
Eligibility requires farmers to be Indian citizens with cultivable land. Institutional landowners, professionals like doctors and engineers, and pensioners earning over ₹10,000 monthly are excluded. The scheme also covers tenant farmers and sharecroppers if their names appear in state land records. As of now, 89% of beneficiaries are marginal farmers with less than 2 hectares of land.
If your name is missing, you must update details at a Common Service Center (CSC) or the nearest agriculture office. The government extended the correction window until April 10, 2026. CSC operators can help with Aadhaar-bank account linkage. There’s no fee for this service. In Tamil Nadu, 5,600 CSCs are functional for this purpose.
And the process isn’t solely online. Farmers without internet access can visit their village’s Gram Panchayat office for assistance. The Panchayat maintains a list of local beneficiaries. In Rajasthan’s Barmer district, Panchayat heads personally called 3,000 farmers to verify their details this week.
The direct benefit transfer (DBT) system has reduced leakages significantly. An RBI report from February 2026 showed that PM Kisan’s DBT efficiency reached 96.2% in Q3 of FY26. This means only 3.8% of transactions faced delays or failures. The main cause of failure is incorrect account numbers, which farmers can correct via the portal.
But political parties often demand expansion of the scheme. The Congress has promised ₹12,000 annually if elected. The AAP suggests adding crop insurance coverage. However, the current government focuses on widening coverage. Minister of State for Agriculture Kailash Choudhary said on March 28 that 2.3 crore new applications are under review.
Farmers should note that the scheme’s disbursement is time-bound. The 23rd installment’s payment cycle closes on April 20. Beneficiaries who don’t receive by then should lodge a complaint on the portal’s grievance section. The average resolution time is 14 days. Last month, 1.4 lakh complaints were resolved, data from the PM Kisan Grievance Cell shows.
For those whose names are correctly listed, no action is needed. The ₹2,000 will be credited directly to their bank accounts. Transactions are usually completed within 24 hours of release. The Ministry uses the PFMS (Public Financial Management System) for transfers. Banks like SBI, HDFC, and regional rural banks process the payments.
Finally, farmers must ensure their mobile numbers are updated on the portal to receive SMS alerts. Over 7.4 crore beneficiaries have registered mobiles. If you haven’t, do it now via the app or CSC. The next installment, the 24th, is scheduled for July 2026. Keeping details current avoids future delays.
