Is soil testing really free under the government Soil Health Card scheme?

Under the government Soil Health Card scheme, the soil testing and the printed card are meant to be free for the farmer. The cost of sampling, lab testing and printing is borne by the scheme. So if your field is covered in the official sampling drive through your block agriculture office or KVK, you should not be charged for the card. What you may have to arrange yourself is reaching the office or delivering your own sample if you are testing outside the regular drive. Private labs and some university labs do charge a fee per sample because they are not running under the free scheme, and that is a separate paid service. So the answer is, through the government SHC scheme it is free, through a private lab it is paid. If anyone asks you for money to make a government Soil Health Card, do not pay and report it to your block agriculture officer. Confirm the current position with your local agriculture office, because some states add their own extra testing facilities.