NABARD Grade A Current Affairs — 5 November 2026

India's Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare budget rose from ₹27,663 crore in 2013-14 to ₹1,40,528.78 crore in 2026-27, a five-fold increase over thirteen years. This expansion reflects successive government pushes toward input subsidies, direct income support through PM-KISAN, digital agriculture, natural farming, and allied sector development including fisheries and animal husbandry, aiming to double farmer incomes and modernise the rural agrarian economy.

India's agricultural budget trajectory encapsulates a fundamental shift in how the state engages with farming: from input-side subsidies and procurement support to direct income transfers, digital infrastructure, and market integration.

The five-fold budget increase signals several structural changes examiners test:

1. PM-KISAN (2019): ₹6,000/year direct income transfer to landholding farmers — the largest direct benefit transfer in agriculture. Funded 100% by the Centre. Over 11 crore beneficiaries.

2. PM Fasal Bima Yojana: Crop insurance with capped farmer premiums (2% Kharif, 1.5% Rabi, 5% commercial/horticultural crops). The balance premium is shared by Centre and States.

3. e-NAM: Electronic National Agriculture Market — integrates APMC mandis digitally across states, enabling price discovery beyond local markets.

4. PM-KUSUM: Solar-powered irrigation pumps for farmers, reducing diesel dependency and providing supplementary income through surplus solar power sale.

5. Natural Farming / PKVY (Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana): Promotes organic and natural farming clusters.

6. Digital Agriculture Mission: AI, remote sensing, and farmer ID (Agri Stack) infrastructure.

For RBI aspirants, the key angle is agricultural credit flow, Kisan Credit Card (KCC), and Priority Sector Lending norms (18% of ANBC to agriculture). For NABARD aspirants, the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) and refinance operations connect directly to this budget expansion. For UPSC aspirants, the governance architecture — Centre-State cost sharing, DBT mechanisms, and food security linkages — is what examiners probe.

PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana, launched in February 2024, has achieved mass-movement scale with over one crore registrations and lakhs of rooftop solar installations sanctioned across India. The scheme provides up to 300 units of free electricity monthly to households installing rooftop solar panels, with central subsidies channelled directly to beneficiaries. It targets one crore households and aims to deliver savings for families, reduce state electricity subsidies, and advance India's renewable energy capacity goals.

PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana sits at the intersection of three major policy priorities: household welfare (free electricity), energy transition (rooftop solar), and fiscal management (reducing state discoms' subsidy burden). Launched on 13 February 2024 with a budgetary outlay of ₹75,021 crore, it is implemented by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) through the National Programme on Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Storage and distributed via DISCOMs.

The scheme's delivery mechanism is distinctive: central financial assistance (CFA) is paid directly to beneficiaries' bank accounts after installation and net-metering connection — making it a Direct Benefit Transfer model for a physical infrastructure scheme. For RBI aspirants, this DBT channel and the involvement of scheduled commercial banks in loan facilitation (with REC Limited and PFC as nodal financing agencies) is the critical angle. For NABARD aspirants, the rural and semi-urban household dimension — energy self-sufficiency reducing household expenditure — connects to rural livelihoods. For UPSC aspirants, the governance architecture (MNRE → DISCOMs → beneficiary), the scheme's role in India's 500 GW renewable target by 2030, and the welfare-fiscal federalism balance are all testable. The scheme offers 1–2 kW installations (subsidised at ₹30,000/kW) and 2–3 kW systems (₹18,000/kW for the incremental unit), with an upper cap. Net metering allows surplus power to be fed back, further reducing effective electricity costs.