Go Digit General Insurance has made history by disbursing payouts to around 500 farmers in Rajasthan, marking India's first insurance claim using a parametric product for agriculture. The policy covered soil moisture imbalance during the rabi season, with excess soil moisture breaching pre-defined thresholds under the Water Balance Index (WBI). According to reports from The Economic Times, the policy began in November 2025 and runs through April 2026, specifically designed to cover soil moisture imbalance during the rabi season, a risk that often leads to waterlogging, root damage and crop rot. The claim was largely driven by damage to wheat crops in Tonk, even though the cover extended to multiple rabi crops across Rajasthan and parts of Uttar Pradesh.
Digit had partnered with Howden Insurance India to offer the WBI-based parametric solution to over 6,000 farmers across Tonk, Varanasi, Gorakhpur and Jaunpur, covering nearly 2,200 acres. As reported by The Economic Times, such products are gaining relevance as erratic rainfall, prolonged dry spells and extreme weather events make loss assessment slower and more contested under conventional schemes. The company stated that such products are not a replacement for traditional crop insurance but can develop as a complementary layer that can stabilise farm incomes, support rural consumption and build trust through faster, undisputed payouts.
'Parametric insurance provides immediate liquidity using objective and transparent data,' said Adarsh Agarwal, appointed actuary at Digit Insurance. 'This helps bridge the gap between climate shock and recovery, especially when volatility is increasing.' The company emphasised that while parametric insurance is still nascent in India, it can develop as a complementary layer that can stabilise farm incomes, support rural consumption and build trust through faster, undisputed payouts. The Economic Survey 2025-26 highlighted that agriculture continued to play a crucial counter-cyclical role, cushioning the economy amid geopolitical shocks and trade disruptions, while stressing that future gains will depend less on subsidies and more on productivity, diversification and food system reforms.
Digit said it will continue to explore scaling parametric solutions across crops, districts and vulnerable groups as climate risks intensify. The Economic Survey warned that food inflation remains the single biggest macroeconomic risk, particularly in a world of climate volatility and fragmented global trade. The Survey emphasised that raising agricultural productivity — rather than expanding price support — is essential to sustaining rural incomes as India transitions to a higher-income economy. Institutional reforms, including Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs), electronic National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) integration and warehouse receipt financing, were cited as gradually improving farmers' market access.
