Fiscal subsidies should be easy to monitor at every level

Fix problems of definitional ambiguity, off-budget financing and deferred payments

- ANOOP SINGH & RADHA MALANI

Despite fiscal constraints and rising opportunity costs, election campaigns in India remain significantly dominated by promises of freebies, cash transfers and subsidies. This makes transparency in subsidy spending more critical than ever. However, accountability remains elusive, given the country's lack of good-quality and timely data on the actual subsidy expenditure of states. This makes it difficult to distinguish between justifiable welfare measures and politically motivated giveaways. The Comptroller and Auditor General has consistently underscored the need for such differentiation, but this requires a fundamental improvement in Indian subsidy reporting practices. India faces three key challenges in this context.