Lok Sabha Question No. 2940 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-10
Subject: Promoting Parametric Form of Insurance under PMFBY
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dr. K Sudhakar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2940

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 10 TH   MARCH, 2026

## PROMOTING PARAMETRIC FORM OF INSURANCE UNDER PMFBY

2940. Dr. K Sudhakar:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण मंũी be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the specific new risks brought under the coverage of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), including crop loss;

(b) whether there are any plans to upgrade the existing insurance mechanism to parametric insurance scheme, if so, the details thereof;

(c) the steps taken for promoting parametric form of insurance for farmers for adverse crop loss due to climate risks, if so, the details thereof and if not the reasons therefor; and

(d) the total incurred claims under PMFBY during the last two years and the turn around time for settlement of claims to farmers, State-wise?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ िष एवं िकसान कʞाण राǛ मंũी (SHRI BHAGIRATH CHAUDHARY)

(a): Government has introduced yield based Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and  weather  index  based Restructured  Weather  Based  Crop  Insurance  Scheme (RWBCIS) from  Kharif  2016  to  provide  financial  support  to  farmers  suffering  crop loss/damage arising out of natural calamities, adverse weather incidence and to stabilize the income of farmers etc.

PMFBY provides for comprehensive risk insurance against crop damage from presowing to post-harvest for crops and area notified by the concerned State Government . The scheme not only safeguards against wide spread yield loss due to non-preventable natural risks/ & extreme climate calamities viz.  flood, inundation, landslide, drought, heat waves, hailstorm, cyclone, pests/diseases,  natural fire and  lightening, storm, typhoon, tempest, hurricane,  tornado  etc.   but  also  against  farm  level  yield  loss  due  to  localized  risks (hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloud burst and natural fire) and post harvest losses due to cyclone, cyclonic/unseasonal rain and hailstorm and  prevented sowing.  Further, crop loss due to attack by wild animals can also be notified by the State Government as per special provisions given in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme.

- (b): Parametric insurance is provided under RWBCIS through scientifically designed term sheets.  RWBCIS  is  generally  applicable  for  horticultural  crops  and  provides  insurance protection to the farmers against adverse weather incidence, such as deficit and excess rainfall, high or low temperature, humidity etc., which are deemed to impact crop production adversely.  It  has  the  advantage  to  settle  claims  within  the  shortest  possible  time.  The States/UTs are required to notify crops under RWBCIS.

(c): WINDS  (Weather  Information  Network  and  Data  System) initiative  has  been undertaken for setting up of Network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) & Automatic Rain-Gauges (ARG) to the tune of 5 times of existing  network for collecting hyper-local weather  data  at  GP  &  Block  level.    This  will  be  fed  into  a  National  database  with interoperability  &  sharing  of  data  in  coordination  with  India  Meteorological  Department (IMD).    WINDS  provides  data  for  effective  drought  &  disaster  management,  accurate weather prediction and offering better parametric insurance products. So far, 10 States have initiated the implementation of WINDS and at present, weather data is being received from 12,000 stations.

(d): Majority of the claims are settled  within the stipulated timelines under the Operational Guidelines  of  the  scheme  i.e  within  21  days  of  the  receipt  requisite  yield  data  from  the concerned  State  Government,    by  the  insurance  companies.        However,  during  the implementation of PMFBY, some complaints were received in the past about payment of claims which are primarily on account of (a) delay in providing State Government share of subsidy    (b)  non-payment/delayed  payment  or  under  payment  of  claims  on  account  of incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks (c) discrepancy in yield data & consequent disputes between State Government and insurance companies etc.  The pending claims on account of these issue are settled after their resolution as per provisions of the scheme. State-wise details of claims paid under PMFBY during the last two years, i.e. 2023-24 & 2024-25 (as on 31.12.2025) are given at Annexure .

## State-wise details of claims paid under PMFBY/RWBCIS (as on 31.12.2025)

| State/UT         | Paid Claims (in Rs. Crore)   | Paid Claims (in Rs. Crore)   |
|------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
|                  | 2023-24                      | 2024-25                      |
| A & N Islands    | 0.02                         | 0.03                         |
| Andhra Pradesh   | 120.3                        | 19.9                         |
| Assam            | 62.8                         | 90.5                         |
| Chhattisgarh     | 588.4                        | 270.0                        |
| Goa              | 0.0001                       | 0.01                         |
| Haryana          | 284.0                        | 339.3                        |
| Himachal Pradesh | 140.4                        | 5.7                          |
| Jammu & Kashmir  | 34.8                         | 26.4                         |
| Jharkhand        | -                            | -                            |
| Karnataka        | 3,367.3                      | 2,809.1                      |
| Kerala           | 166.2                        | -                            |
| Madhya Pradesh   | 965.3                        | 1,293.6                      |
| Maharashtra      | 9,586.4                      | 5,774.8                      |
| Manipur          | 2.0                          | 1.7                          |
| Meghalaya        | 14.5                         | 9.5                          |
| Odisha           | 233.5                        | 152.6                        |
| Puducherry       | 1.9                          | 4.3                          |
| Rajasthan        | 3,663.8                      | 1,899.1                      |
| Sikkim           | -                            | 0.01                         |
| Tamil Nadu       | 761.6                        | 765.3                        |
| Tripura          | 1.9                          | 0.5                          |
| Uttar Pradesh    | 469.9                        | 427.0                        |
| Uttarakhand      | 347.5                        | 307.1                        |
| GRAND TOTAL      | 20,812.5                     | 14,196.5                     |

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