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Cabinet clears ₹24,000 cr for PM Dhan Dhaanya Yojana to boost farm output
At least one district will be selected from each state for the scheme, with the aim of bringing their crop yields, credit penetration, and other metrics up to national levels.
There will be no additional allocation for PMDDKY; funds for the programme will be provided through convergence of 36 existing schemes spread across 11 ministries. These include schemes from the ministries of agriculture, food, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, finance, rural development, cooperation, and irrigation, among others.
The programme has been modelled on the lines of the aspirational districts programme of NITI Aayog and was announced in the 2025–26 Union Budget.
Detailing the programme, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw said the basic objective is to enhance agricultural productivity, increase adoption of crop diversification, augment post-harvest storage at panchayat and block levels, and facilitate the availability of long-term and short-term credit.
Vaishnaw said the 100-odd districts will be selected on the basis of three major criteria: low crop productivity, moderate crop density, and below-average credit penetration.
He said each selected district will devise a district-wise agriculture and allied activities plan. The plan will be prepared by a committee under the District Collector.
The panel will also undertake extensive consultation, understand the cropping pattern and allied activities under the agro-climatic conditions. There will be committees at the state level and a national-level monitoring committee to oversee the programme.
NITI Aayog will provide overall guidance and handholding for the scheme, while Central and state agriculture universities will be assigned to each district as technical knowledge partners.
'State governments will be equal partners in the programme,' said Vaishnaw. NITI Aayog would also rank the districts based on their performance, as it does under the aspirational districts programme.
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