Budget 2024 in charts: Did the government really deliver for rural, farm sectors?

While the agriculture and rural development sectors found mention in the 86-minute speech by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the budget estimates do not reflect a sizeable increase in spending from the interim budget projections in February.

Pressure on the rural and agricultural sectors amid strong GDP growth had led to expectations of an increased allocation from the government, especially after the setback it received in the general elections.

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But the allocation for agriculture and allied sectors saw a slight increase from the estimates announced in February, and that for rural development remained the same.

The government has earmarked ₹1.52 trillion for agriculture and allied sectors in FY25, a 3.4% increase over the ₹1.47 trillion provisioned in the interim budget. While this is still 7.8% higher than ₹1.41 trillion spent in FY24, the increase lags the estimated growth of 10.5% in nominal GDP.

Among major agricultural schemes, the modified interest subvention scheme (MISS) was the only one that saw an increase in its allocation, from ₹18,500 crore in FY24 to to ₹22,600 crore in FY25. MISS provides concessional short-term agri-loans – of up to ₹3 lakh at an annual interest rate of 7% for one year – to farmers practising crop husbandry and allied activities such as animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries. There were no changes in the allocations to the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) and the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana from the previous budget.

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Rural housing received a huge boost in the budget, in line with announcements made by the cabinet after the government was formed. The allocation for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) increased to ₹54,500 crore from ₹32,000 crore the previous year. The outlay for the crucial rural jobs scheme, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, was left unchanged at ₹86,000 crore.

The gender budget saw its outlay rise nearly 19% to ₹3.3 trillion, while transfer to states surged 18% to ₹3.2 trillion and education saw a marginal rise.

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