NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will release the 20th installment of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme worth Rs 20,500 crore, from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, on August 2, benefiting 9.7 crore farmers across the country.

The announcement comes as the government’s flagship direct benefit transfer scheme completes over five years since its launch in 2019. So far, Rs 3.69 lakh crore has been transferred directly to farmers’ accounts through 19 installments under the programme.

“The next installment of PM-Kisan will be released on August 2. In the 20th installment, an amount of about Rs 20,500 crore will be transferred to 9.7 crore farmers,” the agriculture ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.