Direct benefit transfers at Rs 5.14 trn so far this fiscal | The Financial Express

Clipped from: https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/direct-benefit-transfers-at-rs-5-14-trn-so-far-this-fiscal/2961096/

May cross FY22 figure of Rs 6.3 trn due to jump in fertiliser subsidy bill

Subsidies worth Rs 1.5 trillion were transferred to beneficiaries via foodgrains under the public distribution system (PDS) in FY23.

The transfer of assorted subsidies and sops to beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme has reached Rs 5.14 trillion so far in the current financial year and the payments are expected to surpass Rs 6.3 trillion achieved in FY22 due to a spike in fertiliser subsidies.

Fertiliser subsidies worth Rs 1.66 trillion have been provided to farmers so far in the current financial year, which is 34% higher than Rs 1.23 trillion figure in the whole of FY22 as input costs and global prices doubled. The Centre’s total fertiliser subsidy bill is estimated to be Rs 2.5 trillion for FY23 as against the budget estimate of Rs 1.05 trillion and the actual Rs 1.54 trillion in FY22.

Subsidies worth Rs 1.5 trillion were transferred to beneficiaries via foodgrains under the public distribution system (PDS) in FY23. The food DBT through the PDS is likely to end the year around Rs 2.2 trillion, the same as in FY22.

The elevated food subsidy bill was due to the free grains scheme for nine months in the current fiscal compared with 11 months in FY22.

Additionally, the Centre will give free grains to the National Food Security Act (NFSA) beneficiaries in Q4F23. Among other major schemes, the government’s assistance under the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana-Rural (PMAY-R) beneficiaries in FY23 will likely exceed the FY22 number of about Rs 40,000 crore. So far, the government has transferred Rs 34,000 to the beneficiaries.

The DBT system has enabled the government to save significantly on its social sector welfare expenditure through targeted deliveries. The government’s cumulative savings on expenditure, thanks to the DBT till FY21-end, was 2.23 trillion.
The jump in the direct benefit transfer from FY19 onwards could be largely attributed to the increased use of Aadhaar-enabled DBT platforms for in-kind food and fertiliser subsidy distribution (see chart).

According to an estimate by the Centre, the Aadhaar-enabled DBT platform helped eliminate 41.1 million fake LPG connections, 39.9 million duplicate ration cards and resulted in 10% savings on wages on account of the deletion of non-existent MGNREGS beneficiaries.