3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 29, 2026 02:57 AM IST
Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Bhagirath Choudhary, who availed a Rs 99-lakh subsidy for his cucumber farm through a scheme under his own ministry, has refunded the subsidy, the Centre told Lok Sabha on Tuesday.This comes exactly a month after The Indian Express published an investigation, detailing how Choudhary received the Rs 99-lakh subsidy through a horticulture scheme under his ministry.
In a written reply to a question by Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee, Ramnath Thakur, Choudhary’s colleague and Minister of State, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, said, “Shri Bhagirath Choudhary has communicated that he has refunded the subsidy to the bank concerned under the scheme. The concerned bank has been directed to return the subsidy amount to NHB (National Horticulture Board).”
Thakur also informed the House that apart from Bhagirath Choudhary, Lumbaram Choudhary, BJP MP from Jalore in Rajasthan, has received financial assistance under the National Horticulture Board schemes during the last five years.
The scheme to promote “commercial farming” — on a large scale for profit — of select vegetables and flowers comes under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, which was launched in 2014-15 and is administered by the National Horticulture Board, an autonomous organisation under the administrative control of Choudhary’s Ministry.
The initiative offers a maximum subsidy of 50 per cent, capped at Rs 1 crore per family, of the project cost for farming capsicum, cucumber and tomato, and eight varieties of flowers, including rose, anthurium and orchids.
Choudhary’s project for cucumber cultivation is spread across an area of 16,592 square metres. It was one of the 467 projects approved by the NHB in 2025 under the scheme, “Development of Commercial Horticulture through Production and Post-Harvest Management of Horticulture Crops”.
The Indian Express also reported that three family members of Naresh Pal Gangwar, a senior IAS officer recently appointed Higher Education Secretary at the Centre, collectively claimed over Rs 1.16 crore in horticulture subsidies across five years.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Banerjee had asked the ministry, “Whether any serving Union Minister, Member of Parliament, or their immediate family members have received subsidy under schemes of the National Horticulture Board during the last five years and if so, the details thereof…” He had also asked whether any conflict-of-interest or recusal policy exists for applications from public functionaries or their family members. To this, Thakur replied, “The existing NHB Scheme guidelines do not contain any specific provision regarding conflict of interest or recusal in respect of applications submitted by public functionaries or their family members.”
