Performance Audit of India’s Farm Support Schemes 2025

In Agriculture
August 20, 2025
Dr Vasu Srinivasan
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New Delhi (ABC Live): Performance Audit of Farm Support Schemes 2025: The Government of India has shifted its approach from ad-hoc loan waivers to a multi-scheme architecture, providing structured support to farmers. Key schemes include Minimum Support Price (MSP), PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS), and the Agriculture

New Delhi (ABC Live): Performance Audit of Farm Support Schemes 2025: The Government of India has shifted its approach from ad-hoc loan waivers to a multi-scheme architecture, providing structured support to farmers. Key schemes include Minimum Support Price (MSP), PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS), and the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

This Performance Audit 2025 by ABC Live applies a CAG-style Key Performance Indicator (KPI) framework to assess each scheme on Coverage, Efficiency, Equity, and Impact. The audit blends data journalism, tabulation, and analytical interpretation, setting a benchmark for evidence-based evaluation of farm policies.

Minimum Support Price (MSP)

Metric	Value (2024–25)
Procurement	1,175 LMT
MSP Paid	?3.33 lakh crore
Farmers Benefitted	1.84 crore

Findings:

MSP procurement remains regionally concentrated in Punjab, Haryana, and UP.
Only ~12% of farmers benefit, showing limited coverage.
While it ensures market stability, the scheme is fiscally heavy.

? Interpretation: MSP is politically sensitive but inequitable — it supports a minority of farmers at a very high cost.

PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi

Metric	Value
Benefit per Farmer	?6,000 per year
Disbursed (2019–25)	?3.69 lakh crore
Beneficiaries	11.8 crore farmers

Findings:

Universal for landowners but excludes tenants and landless labourers.
Transparent via Aadhaar-linked DBT.
Flat payment is small compared to rising input costs.

? Interpretation: PM-Kisan scores high on coverage and efficiency, but low on inclusivity.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY)

Metric	Value
Premium Paid (2016–25)	?35,753 crore
Claims Settled	?1.83 lakh crore
Claim Ratio	~5x

Findings:

Farmers receive ?5 for every ?1 paid in premium.
Adoption is strong in disaster-prone states, weak elsewhere.
Delays in settlement reduce trust.

? Interpretation: PMFBY delivers strong income protection, but efficiency suffers due to delayed payouts and uneven state participation.

Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (MISS)

Year	Disbursement (? crore)
2020–21	17,789.72
2021–22	21,476.93
2022–23	17,997.88
2023–24	14,251.92
2024–25	17,811.72
Total	89,328.17

Findings:

Helps reduce interest costs on short-term loans.
The benefits mainly Kisan Credit Card holders.
Disbursement trends show a decline post-2021–22.

? Interpretation: MISS supports formal credit users but fails to address the credit exclusion problem among tenant farmers.

Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF)

Metric	Value (as of June 2025)
Sanctioned	?66,310 crore
Mobilized Investment	?1.07 lakh crore
Projects Sanctioned	1,13,419

Breakdown of Projects:

30,202 custom hiring centres
22,827 processing units
15,982 warehouses
3,703 sorting & grading units
2,454 cold storage projects
38,251 other assets

Findings:

High leverage (1.6x mobilisation) indicates private sector confidence.
Benefits are indirect and long-term, unlike MSP or PM-Kisan.

? Interpretation: AIF is India’s forward-looking farm investment strategy, addressing post-harvest gaps, but with delayed returns for farmers.

Comparative KPI Scorecard

Scheme	Coverage	Efficiency	Equity	Impact	Overall Score (1–5)
MSP	2.0	2.5	2.0	3.5	2.5
PM-Kisan	4.5	4.5	3.5	3.6	3.78
PMFBY	3.5	3.0	3.0	4.5	3.5
MISS	3.0	3.5	2.5	3.2	3.05
AIF	3.0	3.5	3.5	3.9	3.23

? Interpretation:

Best Outreach: PM-Kisan.
Best Risk Protection: PMFBY.
Most Politically Sensitive but Unequal: MSP.
Structural Investment Driver: AIF.
Credit Cost Reducer: MISS.

Coverage Snapshot

Scheme	Farmers Benefitted
MSP	1.84 crore
PM-Kisan	11.8 crore
PMFBY	~6.5 crore
MISS	~4.2 crore
AIF	Indirect beneficiaries

? Interpretation: India’s farm support architecture is fragmented — no single scheme covers all farmers, but collectively they form a patchwork safety net.

Why ABC Live is Publishing This Report Now

Rising fiscal burden on farm subsidies (>?3 lakh crore annually).
Climate shocks testing PMFBY and MSP systems.
Election-year politics highlighting farm welfare.
Global trade shifts are making domestic farm support strategically critical.

How This Report is Unique

CAG-Style Audit Framework using KPIs.
Data-Backed Unit Economics, like claim ratios, per-farmer benefits.
Comparative Insights Across Schemes instead of standalone coverage.
Equity Analysis — identifying regional/state skews.
Global Context — comparing with China, the EU, US farm supports.
Actionable “Five Fixes” for reform.

Editorial Value

ABC Live’s Performance Audit of Farm Support Schemes 2025 is not just a report on government spending — it is a systematic accountability exercise. It blends data journalism, audit methodology, and policy analysis to provide readers — from farmers to policymakers — with a transparent, verifiable, and actionable benchmark of India’s farm support system.