Non-NFSA rice costs may be excluded from food subsidy

Finance ministry takes up the matterwith food ministry

- SANDIP DAS

AMID CONCERNS ABOUT the rising food subsidy bill, the finance ministry has called a meeting with the food ministry officials on Thursday to discuss the latter’s proposal to hike food subsidybudget forFY26 by 10% to 15% from the budget estimate (BE) for €2.03 lakh crore.

Sources told FE that the finance ministry has stated that projected additional subsidy expenses of around ~20,000 crore in 2025-26 for supplying subsidised rice sold through open market sale, and for grainbased ethanol blending programme should be delinked from the food subsidy expenses. Such expenses could be reduced by measures like reducing the grain stocks, raising the open market price,and using less subsidised grain for bio-fuel requirements.

The food subsidy largely pertains to the supply of free food grains to 810 million under the National Food Secu-