Varanasi: During his visit to Varanasi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the 17th installment of the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, benefiting more than 9.26 crore farmers with a total disbursement exceeding Rs 20,000 crore.

This was PM Modi's first action after being sworn in for the third consecutive time, having authorized the release last week.

The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, which Modi described as the world's largest Direct Benefit Transfer scheme, was launched in 2019 to support the financial needs of all land-holding farmers, except those with higher income status.

The scheme provides an annual financial benefit of Rs 6,000, distributed in three equal installments every four months, directly into the bank accounts of farmers' families through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.

To date, over Rs 3.04 lakh crore has been disbursed to more than 11 crore farmers across India.

With this latest release, the total amount transferred since the scheme's inception will surpass Rs 3.24 lakh crore.