Union Budget 2024 | India's food subsidies to cost 11% more than initial plan: Sources

New Delhi: India is likely to spend Rs 2.25 lakh crore on food subsidies this financial year, four government sources said, up around 11 per cent from the interim budget estimate in February due to higher spending on the support price for farmers.

The country's combined food and fertiliser bill is expected to reach Rs 3.88 lakh crore, up 5 per cent rise from the estimate in the interim budget unveiled before the election.

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 per cent of India's total spending of Rs 47.66 lakh crore during the fiscal year that ends on March 31, 2025.

In the interim budget, the food subsidy bill was estimated at Rs 2.05 lakh crore, two of the sources said.

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 Rs 1.64 lakh crore for the fertiliser subsidy, two of the sources said.

The ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers did not immediately reply to requests for comment.