Rajasthan Pays ₹345 Crore in Long-Pending Crop Insurance Claims to Farmers
Crop Insurance Claims worth ₹345 crore have been paid by Rajasthan, addressing pending farmer dues and offering relief to those affected by delays in claim settlements.
Crop Insurance Claims worth ₹345 crore have been paid by Rajasthan, clearing long-pending dues and providing financial relief to farmers across the state.
NEW DELHI: Rajasthan government has cleared roughly ₹345 crore in pending crop insurance claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), with the money going to eligible farmers whose settlements had been held up.The bulk of the amount, about ₹318 crore, relates to drought losses suffered by farmers in western Rajasthan during the Rabi 2025-26 season. The payments were routed through the two notified insurers, Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited and Reliance General Insurance Company Limited.
Crop Insurance Claims: District-wise payouts in drought-hit western Rajasthan
Bikaner received the largest share of the drought compensation at ₹116 crore. Barmer farmers were paid ₹53.60 crore, Jodhpur ₹48 crore and Jalore ₹43.58 crore. Pali received ₹31 crore and Churu ₹25.85 crore. Together these six districts account for the ₹318 crore released for Rabi 2025-26.
These are districts where agriculture depends heavily on winter rainfall, and the season was a difficult one. Weather data for the period showed rainfall across the state running well below normal, with western Rajasthan recording virtually none in January and February.Crop insurance is also widely taken up in this belt. State figures for 2025-26 put insured area above 10 million hectares across Rajasthan, the highest among Indian states, with Churu, Barmer and Bikaner among the districts with the largest insured acreage.
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Crop Insurance Claims: Grievance committee rulings and a yield-based settlement in Jaipur
Apart from the drought payouts, the state facilitated ₹17.60 crore in claims that had been stuck because of disputes with an insurer. The State Level Grievance Redressal Committee reviewed the objections raised by Reliance General Insurance and rejected them, directing that farmers in Dungarpur and Jalore be paid. As a result, ₹10.64 crore for Kharif 2024 has been credited to farmers in Jalore, and ₹6.96 crore for Kharif 2025 has gone to farmers in Dungarpur. The money was deposited directly into bank accounts through the insurance company.
A separate ₹9.50 crore has been paid to eligible farmers in Dudu tehsil of Jaipur district for Kharif 2025. Those claims were delayed because the required number of crop-cutting experiments could not be carried out in some insurance units. Under PMFBY, claims are generally worked out from yield data gathered through such experiments, so missing data can freeze a payout. In this case the settlement was processed through Agriculture Insurance Company of India on the basis of a higher average yield.
Crop Insurance Claims: Why claims stall and what the government says next
Delays in claim settlement have been a recurring problem in Rajasthan. Government data placed in Parliament in July 2025 showed claims of roughly ₹947 crore still pending in the state for the period from 2020-21 to Kharif 2024. Farmer groups in several districts, including Churu, Nagaur and Jodhpur, have held protests over unpaid claims.
In the state Assembly in February 2026, Agriculture Minister Kirori Lal Meena said irregularities by some insurers and banks had been found in several districts, announced a probe by the Special Operations Group, and said the government had paid ₹6,328 crore in claims for the Rabi and Kharif seasons. He also said objections raised by insurers over crop-cutting experiments in 23 crop patwar circles were under review before the State Level Technical Advisory Committee.
On the latest payments, Meena said the government is working to get timely financial help to farmers who lose crops to natural disasters, drought and adverse weather. He said the Agriculture Department is reviewing pending claims and coordinating with insurance companies to resolve farmers’ complaints. Under the scheme’s guidelines, farmers must report crop damage to the insurer within 72 hours, and claims are paid directly into bank accounts. Rules also provide for a 12 per cent penalty on delays by insurers or states from Kharif 2025 onwards.
