Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday released the eighth instalment of financial benefits worth Rs 19,000 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) scheme to benefit more than 9.5 crore farmers that includes first-time beneficiaries in West Bengal.

Axar.az reports that the Prime Minister released the instalment through video conferencing, saying "farmers in West Bengal for the first time benefitted with the Central scheme and that more farmers will get the support as soon as the Centre receives it".

The instalment will enable the transfer of more than Rs19,000 crore to over 9.5crore beneficiary farmer families.

Modi also interacted with farmer beneficiaries during the event and said that around Rs1.35 lakh crore has been transferred to the bank accounts of farmers under the PM-KISAN and Rs 60,000 crore during the Covid-19 pandemic.