Cabinet clears farm scheme with Rs 24K crore annual outlay for 6 years

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the ‘Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana’ (PM-DDKY) with an annual outlay of Rs 24,000 crore for a six-year period starting 2025-26, in what is being described as a major push to boost agricultural productivity and support farmers across the country.

The scheme will initially target 100 identified districts with low agricultural output and limited credit uptake.

According to officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, PM-DDKY aims to enhance agricultural productivity, promote crop diversification, encourage sustainable farming practices, strengthen post-harvest storage infrastructure at the panchayat and block levels, improve irrigation facilities and facilitate access to both long-term and short-term agricultural credit.

“The scheme is inspired by NITI Aayog’s aspirational district programme, but for the first time, it focuses exclusively on agriculture and allied sectors,” a senior ministry official said.

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The 100 districts under the scheme will be identified based on three key indicators — low productivity, low cropping intensity and limited credit disbursement. The number of districts selected from each state or Union Territory will be proportional to their share of net cropped area and operational agricultural holdings. However, every state will have at least one district included under the scheme.

Each district will have a district Dhan-Dhaanya Samiti comprising local officials and progressive farmers. This committee will finalise a District Agriculture and Allied Activities Plan aligned with national objectives such as crop diversification, soil and water conservation, expansion of natural and organic farming and achieving agricultural self-sufficiency.

The scheme’s progress in each district will be monitored using 117 key performance indicators (KPIs), updated monthly through a central dashboard.

In another decision aimed at boosting renewable energy projects, the Cabinet on Wednesday approved a special exemption for NLC India Limited (NLCIL) from the existing investment guidelines applicable to Navratna Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

This will enable the PSU to invest Rs 7,000 crore in its wholly owned subsidiary, NLC India Renewables Limited (NIRL) and, in turn, NIRL will invest in various projects directly or through formation of joint ventures, without the requirement of prior approval under the existing delegation of powers.

This investment is further exempted from the 30 per cent net worth ceiling stipulated by the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) for overall investment by CPSEs in joint ventures and subsidiaries providing NLCIL and NIRL greater operational and financial flexibility.

The exemptions aim to support NLCIL’s ambitious target of developing 10.11 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030 and expanding this to 32 GW by 2047.

The Cabinet also granted enhanced delegation of power to NTPC Limited from the extant guidelines of delegation of power to Maharatna CPSEs for making investment in NTPC Green Energy Limited (NGEL), a subsidiary company, and subsequently, NGEL investing in NTPC Renewable Energy Limited (NREL) and its other joint ventures and subsidiaries beyond earlier approved prescribed limit of Rs 7,500 crore up to an amount of Rs 20,000 crore for renewable energy capacity addition to achieve 60 GW renewable energy capacity by 2032.

The enhanced delegation given to NTPC and NGEL will facilitate accelerated development of renewable projects in the country. This move will also play a vital role in strengthening power infrastructure and ensuring investment in providing reliable, round-the-clock electricity access across the nation.