India’s total spending on food and fertiliser subsidy is expected to reach 3.88 trillion rupees, a 5 per cent rise from the estimate in the interim budget unveiled by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman before the parliamentary elections earlier this year.
The country is likely to spend 2.25 trillion rupees ($11.97 billion) on food subsidies this financial year, four government sources told Reuters, up around 11 per cent from the interim budget estimate in February due to higher spending on the support price for farmers.
Interim budget estimates will be replaced by a new budget from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that will be presented on July 23.
Food and fertiliser subsidies in the interim budget accounted for about 8% of India’s total spending of 47.66 trillion rupees during the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2025.
In the interim budget, two sources told Reuters that the food subsidy bill was estimated at 2.05 trillion rupees. The increase since then is largely due to a rise in the price at which the government buys rice and wheat from domestic farmers, one of the sources said.
Meanwhile, the government is likely to stick to its previous estimate of 1.64 trillion rupees for the fertiliser subsidy, Reuters quoted two of sources as saying.
With inputs from agencies.
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Budget 2024: India likely to spend 3.88 trillion rupees in food and fertiliser subsidy
