Water availability has become one of the most important factors in farm planning across India. In many regions, rainfall is uneven, groundwater is under pressure, and irrigation costs continue to influence cropping decisions. This is why farm ponds and pond liners have become increasingly relevant. A lined pond helps farmers store rainwater or pumped water with lower seepage losses, which improves irrigation reliability and supports better water management at field level. The broader policy direction behind this is consistent with the objectives of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana, which focuses on expanding access to irrigation, improving on-farm water use efficiency, and promoting water conservation and water harvesting.
One point needs to be understood clearly at the start. India does not operate with one single nationwide subsidy rate for pond liners. In practice, support for pond lining is usually delivered through state agriculture, horticulture, irrigation, watershed, or tribal welfare schemes, often aligned with wider water conservation programmes. This means the subsidy available to a farmer depends on the state, the category of farmer, the approved pond size, the type of lining material, and the scheme under which the application is processed.
This state-led structure is easy to see in current scheme examples. In Maharashtra, the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Agricultural Self-Reliance Scheme listed by Zilla Parishad Satara provides support for plastic lining of farm ponds at 90 per cent of the approved cost or actual expenditure, whichever is lower, up to Rs 2 lakh. The same page also states that the scheme is aimed at Scheduled Caste and Navabuddha farmers and requires documents such as land records, Aadhaar, and an Aadhaar-linked bank account, with applications routed through the MahaDBT portal.
A similar pattern appears in Maharashtra’s Birsa Munda Agricultural Revolution Scheme for Scheduled Tribe farmers. The Zilla Parishad Akola page lists plastic lining of farm ponds with assistance of Rs 2 lakh and sets out basic eligibility such as caste certificate, land documents, Aadhaar linkage, and minimum landholding conditions. Pune Zilla Parishad also lists “lining to the farm pond” among the agriculture department components, with a maximum subsidy of Rs 2,00,000 under these district-level implementations.
Karnataka offers another useful example of how subsidy structures vary by category. The state agriculture department’s citizen charter for Krishi Bhagya shows polythene or alternate lining, intended to reduce evaporation and percolation loss, with a maximum support of Rs 50,000. The same document shows different subsidy rates by category, including 80 per cent for general farmers and 90 per cent for SC/ST farmers under Krishi Bhagya, with higher rates shown for the special package category. The Karnataka department website also shows that Krishi Bhagya guidelines and liner-related circulars continued to be published for 2025-26, which indicates the scheme remains operational in an updated administrative form.
Rajasthan illustrates the same principle from a different angle. On the Raj Kisan portal, the Khet Talai page states that farmers can receive 60 per cent of cost subject to a ceiling of Rs 63,000 for an earthen farm pond, and up to Rs 90,000 where plastic lining is included, subject to the lower of the approved or actual amount. The page also specifies a minimum pond capacity of 400 cubic metres, a minimum 0.3 hectare landholding in one location, online application through the portal or e-Mitra centres, and direct transfer of subsidy after departmental approval and verification.
For farmers, the practical lesson is straightforward. Pond liner subsidy is available in India, but it is application-based, document-driven, and scheme-specific. In most cases, farmers should expect to provide land ownership records, identity proof, bank details linked for direct benefit transfer, and compliance with technical specifications such as pond dimensions, liner standards, and departmental inspection. Under the broader subsidy framework for irrigation support, the Government of India also continues to emphasise Aadhaar-linked registration, direct benefit transfer, and state-level implementation through designated nodal departments.
From a policy perspective, pond liners are not just an input purchase. They are part of a larger push towards water security, crop stability, and better use of limited irrigation resources. For farmers in drought-prone, rain-fed, or water-stressed areas, a lined farm pond can improve the usefulness of harvested water and reduce avoidable losses. For that reason, government support for pond lining should be viewed as a productivity measure as much as a subsidy measure. The exact financial benefit may differ from one state to another, but the direction is clear: efficient on-farm water storage is being treated as an important part of agricultural resilience.
Before applying, farmers should always check the latest notification on their state agriculture or horticulture portal, because subsidy ceilings, beneficiary categories, technical specifications, and portal procedures can change from one financial year to the next.