Union Budget 2023-24: Big cut in food, fertiliser subsidy bill in FY24

Possible triggers? Abolition of extra free foodgrain distributed as part of PMGKAY, cooling of international fertiliser prices

The Centre’s two big-ticket expenditure items — food and fertiliser — are tipped to drop sharply in the coming fiscal year (2023-24, or FY24) after rising in a big way in 2022-23 (FY23).

This is largely owing to the abolition of extra free foodgrain distributed as part of the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) and the cooling of international fertiliser prices.

According to Budget documents, in FY24, the Centre expects its food subsidy to drop to around Rs 1.97 trillion, which is 31.28 per cent lower than the Revised Estimates (RE) of FY23, while fertiliser subsidy is projected