In the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, the government has spent just over 40% of the budgeted amount for its largest schemes and anticipates spending less than 75% by year's end. These 53 schemes, which are implemented by states and funded by both the central and state governments according to an approved sharing pattern, each had a budget estimate of ₹500 crore or more in 2025-26.
Infrastructure maintenance schemes under health and family welfare, the Indira Gandhi National Widow Pension Scheme, and pre-matric scholarships for Scheduled Castes were the only three schemes where the revised estimate (RE) matched the budgeted amount. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, post-matric scholarships for Scheduled Tribes, and the National Mission on Natural Farming had revised estimates exceeding 100% of the budget estimate (BE).
However, the revised estimates for the remaining 47 schemes are lower than the budget estimates to varying degrees. The PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana has experienced the most drastic decline, with a revised estimate of ₹150 crore, which is barely one-sixth of the budget estimate of ₹850 crore. The total budget estimates for these 53 schemes were just over ₹5 lakh crore, but this has been revised to under ₹3.8 lakh crore, or 74.4% of the budgetary allocation. The funds released in the nine months leading up to December 31 totaled just over ₹2 lakh crore, which is 41.2% of the budget allocation and 55.4% of the revised estimates.
Revised estimates are less than 40% of the budget estimates for schemes such as the PMKSY-Command Area Development and Water Management, PM eBus Sewa, Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan, Jal Jeevan Mission/National Rural Drinking Water Mission, Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, and Other Items of State/UT Component-PMAY Urban. The actual amount released is less than 10% of the budget estimate in six of these schemes. Among the larger schemes (₹2,000 crore or more BE), the Jal Jeevan Mission/National Rural Drinking Water Mission has a budget estimate of ₹67,000 crore.
Looking ahead to Budget 2026, experts suggest that the real test will not be how much the government spends on agri-tech, but how intelligently it deploys those funds. They emphasize scaling proven tools, closing data and R&D gaps, and aligning incentives with outcomes, rather than just equipment. Currently, India spends only 0.3–0.4% of its agricultural GDP on farm research, which is significantly less than what global peers invest. Brazil, for example, allocates nearly 1.8% of its agricultural GDP to farm research, which enables faster innovation and greater competitiveness. RG Agarwal, Chairman Emeritus of Dhanuka Agritech, has stressed the need to increase R&D funding to achieve genuine scientific progress and global competitiveness.
In related news, India's electronics exports have seen substantial growth, with a 22.24% increase, surpassing the $20 billion mark within the first nine months of fiscal year 2023-24. Mobile phone exports accounted for 52% of all electronics exports, reaching $10.5 billion between April and December 2023. IPhone exports alone topped $7 billion by December 2023, making up 35% of all electronics exports and 70% of all mobile exports from the nation.