Food subsidy bill stays unchanged from Feb estimate at Rs 2.05 lakh cr in Budget 2024-25

The Centre on July 23 projected the food subsidy bill for FY25 at Rs 2.05 lakh crore, keeping it unchanged from the interim version the finance minister had presented on February 1, but lower than Rs 2.12 lakh crore that was spent a year back.

The entire food subsidy bill is set to be spent under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana, which was extended by five years by the Union Cabinet in November 2023 at a total cost of nearly Rs 12 lakh crore. The food subsidy bill stood at Rs 2.73 lakh crore in 2022-23.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the full Budget for the current financial year on July 23.

India’s major subsidies consist of food, fertiliser and petroleum. This is pegged at Rs 3.81 lakh crore for FY25.