Finance ministry red flags extending free food scheme

The government has budgeted ₹2.07 lakh crore for food subsidies in FY23, lower than the revised ₹2.86 lakh crore for FY22. The PMGKAY extension till September is expected to swell the subsidy bill to about ₹2.87 lakh crore. Extending the scheme by a further six months could cost another ₹80,000 crore in FY23, lifting the food subsidy to nearly ₹3.7 lakh crore.