Shakambhari Yojana (Chhattisgarh)

What is Shakambhari Yojana?

Shakambhari Yojana is a state-funded irrigation scheme of the Chhattisgarh Department of Agriculture Development, Farmer Welfare and Biotechnology, listed as state-funded scheme number 6 on the department's own state schemes page at agriportal.cg.nic.in. Written in Hindi as शाकम्भरी योजना and named after Shakambhari, the goddess associated with vegetables and green produce, the scheme puts an irrigation pump on the field of a farmer who has water but no way to lift it, and helps build the well where no source exists at all.

Chhattisgarh's outcome budget states the objective in a single sentence: increase in irrigated area and provision of irrigation from available water sources. That framing matters, because it explains the division of labour between the state's irrigation schemes. Kisan Samriddhi Yojana creates the water source by drilling a tube well; Shakambhari Yojana makes an existing source. A well, a nala, a farm pond, actually usable by funding the pump that lifts water out of it.

Because the pump is the delivery item, Shakambhari Yojana is the scheme most Chhattisgarh farmers meet when they go looking for a subsidised diesel or electric pump set, and it is one of the three schemes routed through the state's CHAMPS online subsidy portal.

How much does Chhattisgarh spend on Shakambhari Yojana?

The Finance Department's outcome budget for the agriculture department gives the official year-by-year picture:

The sharp drop from 2024-25 to 2025-26 is worth reading carefully. The provision fell to a quarter, and by 2026-27 the pump target was cut to 4,471. Shakambhari Yojana remains open and funded, but the number of pumps sanctioned in a year is now a fraction of what it was, which is exactly why the application window fills quickly once it opens on CHAMPS.

What benefit does Shakambhari Yojana provide?

Shakambhari Yojana has two components:

1. Irrigation pump. A diesel or electric pump of up to 5 HP supplied on subsidy. The rate reported for small and marginal farmers is 75 per cent of the cost or Rs 16,875, whichever is less.

2. Well construction. Support for constructing an irrigation well, reported at 50 per cent of cost or Rs 25,200, whichever is less, for small and marginal farmers. The well target in the outcome budget is a steady 200 a year, so this is the smaller of the two components by a wide margin.

The Directorate of Agriculture issues a separate unit-cost instruction for the scheme each year, the Agri-Subsidy portal carries it under the heading शाकम्भरी ईकाई लागत निर्देश (Shakambhari unit cost instructions) alongside शाकम्भरी योजना संबन्धी निर्देश (scheme instructions). Both are scanned documents, so the percentage and ceiling above should be confirmed against the running year's order at your block agriculture office before you place an order.

Who is eligible for Shakambhari Yojana?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer of Chhattisgarh with cultivable land recorded in your own name.
• You have, or are creating, a water source that a pump can draw from.
• You hold a bank account seeded with Aadhaar, since the subsidy is paid by direct transfer.

Farmers of all categories are covered. The scheme guideline directs that priority be given to small and marginal farmers, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe farmers, and women farmers, and the higher 75 per cent rate is tied to the small and marginal category.

You are not eligible if:

• You have no cultivable land recorded in your name — a landless labourer or an unrecorded sharecropper cannot apply.
• You have already received a subsidised pump under Shakambhari Yojana or another government irrigation scheme and are still inside the lock-in period.
• You are a resident of another state, since Shakambhari Yojana is financed entirely from the Chhattisgarh state budget.
• You buy the pump from a dealer who is not on the department's valid supplier list, the claim is rejected at bill stage even if you were otherwise eligible.

What documents are required?

How to apply for Shakambhari Yojana

1. Watch for the annual window. Chhattisgarh State Seeds and Agricultural Development Corporation announces the CHAMPS opening dates each year. For 2026-27 the Shakambhari Yojana pump window opened on 11 May 2026, with drip and sprinkler under PMKSY from 7 May and mechanisation equipment from 15 May.
2. Keep the documents ready before the window opens. Aadhaar, bank passbook, caste certificate where relevant, and Khasra or B-1 to all in scanned form, since the portal accepts applications only in a fixed daily slot, reported as 10 am to 5 pm.
3. Register and apply on champs.cgstate.gov.in. Create the farmer login, select Shakambhari Yojana and the pump type (diesel or electric) and HP, and upload the documents.
4. Note the application number. Save or print it; every later query at the block office runs on this number.
5. Get the case verified. The block agriculture office and the Rural Agriculture Extension Officer verify your holding and eligibility, and the demand is recorded against the block's target.
6. Buy the pump from a listed dealer once you receive the sanction, and keep the invoice.
7. Submit the bill and get the pump verified. Departmental staff physically verify the installed pump.
8. Receive the subsidy in your bank account by direct transfer after verification.

Applying with help from the block office

Farmers without internet access are not shut out, but there is no separate paper-only route to sanction: even office-assisted cases are entered into CHAMPS. Use the block office this way:

1. Carry your documents to the block agriculture office or to your Rural Agriculture Extension Officer before the window opens.
2. Ask the staff to file the CHAMPS application on your behalf and to note the application number on your copy.
3. Return to the same office for verification and follow-up, since the block office holds the site verification and the sanction position for your case.

How to check your Shakambhari Yojana status

1. Log in to champs.cgstate.gov.in with the mobile number used at registration and open your application.
2. Ask the block agriculture office for the position of your case against the block's target for the year.
3. Open the Agri-Subsidy demand sheet at agriportal.cg.nic.in/agrisubsidy/RptDemaadSheet.aspx, choose your district, select "शाकम्भरी योजना" and the financial year, and see how much of the district's provision has already been committed.

Why Shakambhari Yojana applications get rejected

• The year's target is exhausted. With a 2026-27 target of 4,471 pumps for the whole state, this is the leading reason.
• Land record mismatch, the Khasra or B-1 uploaded does not show the applicant as the recorded holder.
• Caste certificate missing where the higher category rate was claimed, which drops the case to the general rate or rejects it outright.
• Bill from an unlisted dealer, which cannot be passed for subsidy.
• Duplicate benefit, a pump already taken under Shakambhari Yojana or another irrigation scheme within the lock-in period.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the transfer even after approval.
• Purchase made before sanction, leaving no verifiable approval trail.

Grievance and help

Take the first complaint to your Rural Agriculture Extension Officer, then to the Senior Agriculture Development Officer at the block, and then to the Deputy Director of Agriculture at the district. The Agri-Subsidy portal carries a problem and suggestion status page where complaints logged through departmental staff can be tracked, and the Directorate of Agriculture in Raipur is the final departmental authority.

Applying under Shakambhari Yojana is free. No dealer, agent or officer may charge a fee for registration or for "arranging" a sanction, and the subsidy is paid only into the beneficiary's own bank account.