Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday allocated ₹4,49,028.68 crore for India’s Gender Budget, a 37% increase from last year, when it crossed the ₹3 lakh crore mark for the first time since its introduction in the 2005-06 Budget.
The Gender Budget reached ₹3.27 lakh crore in the last Budget, rising 31.46% from ₹2.38 lakh crore in the 2023 Budget.
The Gender Budget, an annual financial statement of the total allocation to women-centric schemes, is divided into three parts. Part A covers schemes with 100% provision for women, Part B includes schemes with 30-99% allocations for women, and Part C, which was introduced in the July 2024 Budget, includes schemes with allocations of up to 30% for women.
Part A schemes were allocated ₹1,05,535.40 crore, nearly 6.1% lower than in the 2024 Budget. Part B schemes saw a massive 63% increase in allocation in the 2025 Budget, standing at ₹3,26,672.00. Part C received ₹16,821.28 crores, rising marginally from ₹15,000 crores received in the previous Budget.
Key allocations in 2025 Budget
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), which provides free food grains for the poor, was allocated a whopping ₹1,07,638 crores — the highest for any scheme under the 2025-26 Gender Budget.
The inclusion of PMGKAY under Part B led to the overall Gender Budget crossing the ₹4 lakh crore mark for the first time.
Two more Part B schemes received more funds in this year’s Budget. The Ayushman Bharat – Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana was allocated ₹4,482.90 crores, 24% higher compared to last year. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme received 38.46% more funds in the 2025 Budget — ₹40,000 crores.
But another Part B scheme, Jal Jeevan Mission, got a 40% cut in allocation compared to last year. From ₹34,162 crores in FY25, the flagship rural scheme received just ₹20,476 crores.
At ₹54,832 crores, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna (Rural) got the highest allocation under Part A in Budget 2025. The urban counterpart of the scheme received ₹23,294 crores.
The Ministry of Rural Development received ₹75,863.99 crores, about one-sixth of the total Gender Budget allocation this year. This was largely due to the surge in allocation for the National Rural Livelihood Mission-Aajeevika.
One interesting addition to this year’s Gender Budget was the IndiaAI Mission, a Part B scheme, which received ₹660 crores.
