Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Reddy will launch his flagship farmer assistance scheme today from Nellore district. Under the YSR Rythu Bharosa-PM Kisaan, which has been named for his father – former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy – 54 lakh farmers will get ₹ 13,500 over three instalments. Of these, 40 lakh are beneficiaries of the PM Kisaan Samman Nidhi and will get ₹ 6,000 from the centre in three instalments. The state government will add ₹ 7,500 to that sum.

“Our Chief Minister was keen we must give credit to the Centre where it is due. That is why the scheme has been renamed with the PM’s name included since we are getting funds from them,” Andhra Pradesh irrigation minister Anil Kumar Yadav told NDTV.

Chief Minister Jagan Reddy traveled to Delhi earlier this month to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the scheme’s launch. And although the Prime Minister will not be at the scheme’s launch, Jagan Reddy’s inclusion of the PM Kisaan label appears to be an attempt to play nice with the centre, which had earlier expressed disappointment with the state’s decision to re-tender Polavaram projects.

The state government has enhanced the amount promised – ₹ 12,500 – by the ruling YSR Congress ahead of Assembly polls in April. In addition, the scheme is being implemented seven months ahead of schedule and at a time when the state’s finances are in dire straits.

This means farmers in the state, including three lakh tenant farmers from minority categories, will receive ₹ 67,500 as support over five years instead of the ₹ 50,000 over four years that they were promised.