The Modi government has launched a large number of central schemes since 2014, ranging from financial inclusion to sanitation to healthcare. This article compiles the major flagship schemes year by year, along with their coverage numbers where available.
2014: The Opening Year
Modi’s government launched three major schemes in its first year: the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana on August 28, 2014, aimed at giving every household access to a bank account, the Swachh Bharat Mission on October 2, 2014, targeting sanitation and cleanliness, and Make in India on September 25, 2014, aimed at boosting domestic manufacturing, according to records compiled by the Press Information Bureau.
2015: Digital and Social Schemes
The following year brought Digital India, launched in July 2015 to expand digital infrastructure and services, the Skill India Mission, the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign on January 22, 2015, focused on the girl child, and the Atal Pension Yojana and PM Suraksha Bima and Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana insurance schemes.
2016: Insurance and LPG Access
2016 saw the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana crop insurance scheme launched in January, the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana in May, providing free LPG gas connections to women in below-poverty-line households, and the Stand-Up India and Start-Up India entrepreneurship initiatives.
2018: Healthcare at Scale
Ayushman Bharat, also known as PM-JAY, launched on September 23, 2018, describing itself as the world’s largest government-funded health assurance scheme, covering hospitalisation costs for economically vulnerable families.
2019 Onward: Direct Cash Transfers and Beyond
The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi direct cash transfer scheme for farmers launched in February 2019. The pandemic-era Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan followed in 2020. PM Gati Shakti, an infrastructure master-plan, launched in October 2021. More recently, PM Vishwakarma Yojana in September 2023 supported traditional artisans, Namo Drone Didi introduced drone technology for women’s self-help groups in agriculture, and PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, launched in February 2024, offered rooftop solar subsidies to households.
How Many Schemes Exist in Total
There’s no single official government figure for the total number of central schemes, but an investigation by The Reporters’ Collective, an independent investigative outlet, documented 906 centrally sponsored and central sector schemes across the Modi years, finding that a majority of them faced funding cuts over time despite public launch fanfare, a finding the outlet summarised as “billboard governance.” Informal aggregator websites list figures like “245-plus” schemes, though these are not official government tallies and should be treated as rough estimates rather than verified counts.
The Beneficiary Numbers
Some of these schemes have reached genuinely large scale. Jan Dhan Yojana had opened 55.02 crore bank accounts as of March 2025, according to a Press Information Bureau release, with deposits crossing Rs 3.07 lakh crore. Ayushman Bharat had issued over 36 crore health cards and authorised 8.99 crore hospital admissions worth more than Rs 1.26 lakh crore, according to government data reported by Medical Dialogues. Ujjwala Yojana had reached 10.6 crore beneficiaries by 2025, according to Business Standard, with total LPG coverage nationally rising from 16.62 crore connections in April 2016 to 31.50 crore, per a government reply in the Lok Sabha reported by News on Air. PM Kisan had disbursed over Rs 3.24 lakh crore to more than 11 crore farmers as of a 2025 government statement.
The Independent Scrutiny These Numbers Have Faced
Not all of the data behind these schemes has gone unchallenged. A 2023 Comptroller and Auditor General audit of Ayushman Bharat flagged serious data-integrity concerns, finding that treatment claims had been filed for patients recorded as deceased, with an estimated Rs 697 crore reportedly paid out in such cases, and that 9.85 lakh beneficiaries were linked to the same single mobile number, according to reporting by Deccan Herald and The Print. The Health Ministry pushed back on how some of this reporting characterised the CAG’s findings, according to The Wire. Separately, opposition state leaders, including Karnataka’s Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, have periodically alleged that some Modi government schemes are rebranded or renamed versions of earlier UPA-era or state-level Congress government welfare programmes rather than genuinely new initiatives, an allegation the central government has consistently rejected.
Bottom Line
The Modi government has launched a large and varied set of central schemes since 2014, spanning financial inclusion, sanitation, healthcare, and infrastructure, with several reaching genuinely large beneficiary numbers in the tens of crores, even as independent audits and opposition critics have raised specific questions about data accuracy, funding follow-through, and how much of the programming represents genuinely new policy versus rebranded earlier initiatives.
Disclaimer: This article is based on publicly available government press releases and independent news reports listed below. It is written for general informational purposes and does not represent an official statement from the Government of India.
Sources
FAQ
