Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)

What is Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana?

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) is a central government umbrella scheme launched in 2015 to expand irrigated area in India and improve water use efficiency on the farm. PMKSY works on the principle of "Har Khet Ko Pani": water to every field, and covers the whole chain from water source creation to distribution, on-farm application and extension support.

According to the PMKSY portal maintained by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, PMKSY brings together interventions that were earlier run as separate programmes by different ministries. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the continuation of PMKSY for the 2021-26 period on 15 December 2021 with a total outlay of Rs 93,068 crore, of which Rs 37,454 crore is central assistance to states and Rs 20,434.56 crore is debt servicing on loans raised by the Government of India for irrigation development during the 2016-21 phase.

Key objectives

• Extend the area under assured irrigation and reduce dependence on the monsoon.
• Improve on-farm water use efficiency so that less water produces more crop.
• Complete long-pending major and medium irrigation projects in a time-bound way.
• Restore and renovate traditional water bodies and develop rainfed watersheds.

Main features

• PMKSY is an umbrella scheme, not a single cash benefit. Money flows to state governments against approved projects.
• Three components continue during 2021-26: Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP), Har Khet Ko Pani (HKKP) and Watershed Development.
• AIBP targets 13.88 lakh hectares of additional irrigation potential during 2021-26; surface minor irrigation and repair, renovation and restoration of water bodies under HKKP target another 4.5 lakh hectares.
• The scheme aims to benefit about 22 lakh farmers, including 2.5 lakh SC and 2 lakh ST farmers.
• Per Drop More Crop (PDMC), the micro-irrigation component, ran under PMKSY from 2015-16 to 2021-22 and is implemented under Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana from 2022-23.

Which ministry implements PMKSY?

PMKSY is implemented by three departments working together. The Ministry of Jal Shakti implements AIBP and Har Khet Ko Pani, which cover major, medium and minor irrigation projects, ground water development, and repair and renovation of water bodies. The Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development, implements the Watershed Development component in rainfed areas. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare handles micro irrigation and hosts the pmksy.gov.in portal.

This split matters for a farmer. A canal or a check dam is a Jal Shakti or Rural Development work sanctioned at state level, while a drip set for your own field is an agriculture department subsidy.

Who is eligible for PMKSY?

Who can access PMKSY funding:

• State and union territory governments, which propose irrigation projects for central assistance. AIBP projects are approved and prioritised centrally and executed by state water resources departments.
• Farmers in a project command area, who receive irrigation water once a canal, tank or minor irrigation work is completed. No application is needed, the benefit follows the land.
• Watershed project villages identified by the Department of Land Resources in rainfed and degraded districts.
• Individual farmers seeking micro-irrigation subsidy, who apply to their state agriculture or horticulture department. Assistance is 55% for small and marginal farmers and 45% for other farmers, limited to 5 hectares per beneficiary.

Who cannot apply:

• An individual farmer cannot apply on pmksy.gov.in for a personal cash benefit, a loan or a subsidy. There is no beneficiary registration form on the PMKSY portal.
• Contractors, dealers and consultants are not eligible as beneficiaries; they participate only through state tenders and empanelment.
• Farmers who have already drawn micro-irrigation assistance for the same plot are not eligible again within the cooling-off period fixed by their state.
• Land beyond the 5-hectare ceiling is not eligible for micro-irrigation subsidy under the current guidelines.

What documents are required for PMKSY?

How to apply for PMKSY benefits

PMKSY has no central citizen application. The realistic routes are these.

1. Identify the right component. If you want a drip or sprinkler subsidy, you need the Per Drop More Crop route through your state, not the PMKSY portal. If you want canal or tank water, that is a state project, not an application.
2. Visit your state agriculture or horticulture department portal, for example the state farmer welfare or micro-irrigation portal your district agriculture office points you to — and register as a farmer with your Aadhaar number and land records.
3. Select the micro-irrigation component, enter your survey or khasra number, the area to be covered and the crop, and upload land records, Aadhaar and the bank passbook.
4. Attach a quotation from a micro-irrigation company empanelled by your state and submit the application.
5. Wait for field verification by the agriculture or horticulture officer, who inspects the plot and the water source before sanction.
6. Install the system through the empanelled supplier after sanction, and allow the joint inspection that follows installation.
7. Receive the subsidy to 55% for small and marginal farmers, 45% for other farmers; in your Aadhaar-seeded bank account by DBT.

For a canal, lift irrigation or water body renovation work, write to the district collector, the executive engineer of the state water resources department or your gram panchayat, which can place the demand in the district irrigation plan.

How much benefit does PMKSY provide?

PMKSY is measured in irrigation potential created, not in rupees per farmer. The 2021-26 phase carries an outlay of Rs 93,068 crore. As of May 2026, 71 of 123 projects under PMKSY-AIBP had been completed, a completion rate of about 57.7%, according to figures cited in official briefings.

For the individual farmer, the measurable benefit is the micro-irrigation subsidy: 55% of system cost for small and marginal farmers and 45% for others, capped at 5 hectares. States may add a top-up from their own budget or from the Micro Irrigation Fund of Rs 5,000 crore created with NABARD, which lets states borrow to incentivise micro irrigation beyond PMKSY norms.

Important dates and coverage

• PMKSY was launched in 2015-16 as an umbrella irrigation scheme.
• The current phase runs from 2021-22 to 2025-26, approved on 15 December 2021.
• Per Drop More Crop moved out of PMKSY and into RKVY from 2022-23.
• In 2022-23, micro irrigation covered 11.02 lakh hectares to 5.32 lakh hectares under drip and 5.70 lakh hectares under sprinkler, as reported on the PMKSY portal.

Common reasons PMKSY micro-irrigation applications are rejected

• Land records not in the applicant's name or not updated in the state land record system.
• Bank account not Aadhaar-seeded, which blocks the DBT payment.
• Supplier not empanelled with the state, so the quotation is not accepted.
• Area exceeds the 5-hectare ceiling for a single beneficiary.
• No assured water source at the plot, found during field verification.
• Repeat claim for a plot that already received assistance.

Help and grievance redressal

• PMKSY portal: pmksy.gov.in, which hosts component guidelines and manuals.
• PMKSY email: support.pmksy-dac@gov.in
• Kisan Call Centre: 1800-180-1551, for general farm scheme queries.
• District agriculture officer or horticulture officer, for micro-irrigation sanction and subsidy status.
• Executive engineer, state water resources department, for canal, tank and lift irrigation works under AIBP and HKKP.

PMKSY assistance is never released through an agent. No middleman can get your name added to a project command area, and no official will ask you for an OTP.