Food Security Act gets highest hike in budgetary allocation

The dream project of UPA government -- the Food Security Act-- has got the highest increase in allocation in the subsidy segment.

At Rs 88,500 crore, the subsidy allocation is almost nine times over the last year's allocation of Rs 10,000 crore. The overall food subsidy for this fiscal has been kept at Rs 115,000 crore.

The government, meantime, has reduced the planned expenditure by 80,000 crore.

Interestingly, finance minister P Chidambaram, who had kept a tight hand while releasing money in the last quarter of 2013-14, termed transferring of unspent money by ministries to the Food Security Act as savings.

"We over-provide in many departments in a hope that they will spend. And also in the hope that economy will grow, but if the growth is lower and ministries do not spend, then it is a saving," said P Chidambaram in a post-budget press conference.

The government would provide highly subsidised food grains to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population through the public distribution system.

According to the interim Budget proposals, subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers is estimated at Rs 246,397 crore for 2014-15 as against Rs 245,452 crore in the revised estimates for this fiscal.