Modi Releases Rs 18,690 Crore PM-KISAN Instalment in Banaskantha, Accuses Opposition of Spreading Fertiliser and LPG Rumours

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released the 24th instalment of the PM-KISAN income support scheme from Banaskantha district in north Gujarat, transferring more than Rs 18,690 crore directly into the bank accounts of over 9.34 crore farmers. He used the same stage to launch a pointed attack on the Opposition over its claims of fertiliser and cooking gas shortages during the Iran war.

What was announced

Under PM-KISAN, eligible farmer families receive Rs 6,000 a year in three equal instalments of Rs 2,000 each through direct benefit transfer. With Friday's release, the scheme has completed 24 instalments. Payouts across the first 23 instalments had already crossed Rs 4.47 lakh crore, according to official figures cited at the event. Over 50 lakh farmers in Gujarat are among the beneficiaries, with more than Rs 1,000 crore credited in the state.

Alongside the transfer, Modi dedicated 521 units built under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, which finances storage, processing and other post-harvest facilities, and inaugurated 12 horticulture clusters meant to push farmers towards higher-value crops.

At Bhildi village, he inaugurated the Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre, a facility costing about Rs 325 crore, and launched or laid the foundation stone for projects worth around Rs 14,000 crore in total. The visit is part of a two-day trip to his home state, which began with a roadshow in Bhildi.

The political message

The speech was as much about politics as policy. Modi said that some people take pleasure when the country faces difficulties, and accused them of spreading rumours after the Iran war began that farmers would not get fertiliser and households would not get LPG, with the aim of defaming him. He said global fertiliser prices had risen steeply amid the uncertainty, but the government had not allowed that burden to pass on to farmers.

He also said he would continue serving the people until his last breath. The line was widely read as a reply to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, whose sharply worded personal remark about the Prime Minister a few days earlier had drawn strong criticism from the BJP.

Why it matters

The timing is significant on two fronts. The Iran war has pushed up global prices of crude oil, LPG and fertiliser inputs, and the Opposition has repeatedly questioned whether India's supply chains and subsidy budget can absorb the shock. By anchoring a direct cash transfer to farmers to a defence of the government's record on fertiliser and fuel, Modi sought to turn a routine scheme payout into a rebuttal of those charges.

The fiscal angle is also worth watching. Each PM-KISAN instalment costs close to Rs 19,000 crore, and the fertiliser subsidy bill tends to rise sharply when global prices spike. Holding retail fertiliser prices steady for farmers while international costs climb means the Centre absorbs the difference, which adds pressure on its finances in a year when energy import costs are already elevated.

For the Opposition, the farm sector remains a key line of attack. For the government, Friday's event in Gujarat was an attempt to show that support reached farmers on schedule despite the external shock.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.