Budget 2013: Food Security gets Rs 10Kcr; FY14 subsidy at Rs 2.31lk-cr
Emphasising that Food Security Bill is a promise of the UPA government, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today allotted Rs 10,000 crore as incremental cost to implement the bill. He added that food subsidy is seen at Rs 90,000 crore in FY14.
February 28, 2013 / 15:17 IST
Moneycontrol Bureau
Emphasising that Food Security Bill is a promise of the UPA government, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today allotted Rs 10,000 crore as incremental cost to implement the bill. He added that food subsidy is seen at Rs 90,000 crore in FY14.The original bill was introduced in December 2011 in Lok Sabha, it was recently revised taking into consideration of the Parliamentary Panel recommendation.The revised Bill aims to cover around 70 percent of the country's population with a uniform allocation of five kg foodgrains per person at a fixed rate of Rs 1-3 per kg every month through ration shops.According to Economic Survey 2012-13, which was released a day before the Budget, food subsidy had been growing at an average annual rate of 25.4 percent in the last five years. It highlighted that the bulk of it was accounted for by the targeted public distribution system (TPDS). Meanwhile, Chidambaram pegged FY13 petroleum subsidy at Rs 96,900 crore. In a bid to contain the soaring subsidy burden, diesel prices were raised by Rs 5 per litre and the number of subsidised cylinders was capped at six per household in a year. "Addressing the key fiscal risk of petroleum subsidies is critical in better fiscal marksmanship," Economic Survey 2012-13 added. The fertiliser subsidy is estimated to be at Rs 66,000 crore in FY14. The high level of global crude oil prices also had a bearing on fertiliser subsidy as there was inadequate pass through in urea prices, it said. The government has pegged subsidy on fertilisers for 2012-13 at about Rs 61,000 crore, which includes Rs 13,398 crore for imported urea, Rs 19,000 crore for indigenous (urea) fertilisers and Rs 28,576 crore for decontrolled phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers.Meanwhile, the total subsidy for FY14 is estimated to be at Rs 2.31 lakh crore.
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