Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana: A Decade of Agricultural Transformation

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India's premier irrigation initiative, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, has completed more than 10 years of helping transform agriculture across the nation.

The government launched the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana in 2015 to expand farming water access, increase protected farming land, and encourage efficient water use.
This program functions as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme and falls under the official Core Scheme category.
Funding is shared between the center and states in a 60:40 ratio for most states, 90:10 for northeastern and Himalayan states, and 100% central funding for Union Territories.
The government created this master initiative by merging three older schemes: the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, the Integrated Watershed Management Programme, and On-Farm Water Management.
The central strategy focuses on Jal Sanchay, which means rainwater harvesting, and Jal Sinchan, which means using water efficiently on farms.
States execute this scheme through State Irrigation Plans and District Irrigation Plans to solve local water needs and coordinate funding at the ground level.
The government extended this program for the 2021-26 period with a total financial budget of ₹93,068.56 crore.
In the Union Budget 2026-27, the government set aside ₹6,587 crore to expand irrigation coverage and boost water saving methods.

This component speeds up the completion of unfinished major and medium dam and canal projects to bring water quickly to farm fields.
Since 2016-17, central assistance worth ₹21,023 crore has reached this component, providing direct benefits to 17.30 million farmers.
In 2025-26, the government added the Modernization of Command Area Development and Water Management sub-scheme with an initial budget of ₹1,600 crore.
This new sub-scheme uses underground pipelines and modern micro-irrigation systems to carry canal water straight to individual farm plots without waste.

This project builds new water points using surface water and underground aquifers to bring regular irrigation to unwatered farmland.
Under this initiative, 3,462 Surface Minor Irrigation projects have created 5.93 lakh hectares of irrigation capacity, while groundwater projects added 88.55 thousand hectares.

This section restores dry and degraded lands by building check dams, conserving topsoil, and storing local rainfall.
Since 2016-17, the government has spent ₹12,432.09 crore under this head to benefit 1.34 million farmers across dryland zones.

Initially part of this scheme from 2015-16 to 2021-22, this component moved into Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana in 2022-23 to push drip and sprinkler systems.
Drip systems supply water and liquid fertilizer straight to plant roots, while sprinklers spray water evenly like natural rainfall to conserve water and boost crop yields.
To help farmers buy this equipment, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development created the Micro Irrigation Fund, offering 55% subsidies to small farmers and 45% to others.
This effort has brought 110.92 lakh hectares of land under micro-irrigation, covering nearly 7.98% of India's total cultivated crop area.

The government launched Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana on 1st July 2015 to ensure stable farm water supply and encourage smart water use.
The core goal of the scheme is to bring more farmland under assured irrigation and reduce water wastage in agriculture.
The four main pillars of this scheme are Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme, Har Khet Ko Pani, Watershed Development, and Per Drop More Crop.
The Per Drop More Crop section helps farmers install drip and sprinkler setups to get high crop outputs with minimal water.
The Har Khet Ko Pani section creates fresh local water sources through minor irrigation to cover left-out farm areas.