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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | 'Food bill to cost 2.38L cr/yr'-Subodh Varma

'Food bill to cost 2.38L cr/yr'-Subodh Varma

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published Published on Feb 20, 2013   modified Modified on Feb 20, 2013
-The Times of India

How much would it cost the central government to provide grain to the whole country at affordable prices? A calculation by the Delhi-based advocacy group Centre for Budget & Governance Accountability (CBGA) puts the figure at Rs 2,38,471 crore for one year. In the current financial year (2012-13), the Centre spent Rs 75,366 crore on the food subsidy, that is, about 0.74% of the gross domestic product.

So, to provide 35kg of wheat or rice (or a mix) and 5kg of millet to each of the 24 crore households in India, the government would need to spend an additional Rs 1,63,105 crore. The CBGA calculation assumes that rice will be priced at Rs 3 per kg, wheat at Rs 2 and millet at Re 1. A total of Rs 28,320 crore would be recovered by selling the grain at these prices. This food subsidy would amount to just 2.3% of the GDP.

A major share of the food subsidy at present goes to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) with a small fraction also going to the states who route it to their procurement agencies. In 2012-13, for instance, of the Rs 75,366 crore spent on food subsidy, 82% went to the FCI and 18% was distributed among various states, according to data with the CBGA.

An analysis of food subsidy-related expenditure shows that 1kg of wheat costs about Rs 18 and rice about Rs 23.50 to the government. The pooled cost of grain was Rs 12 for wheat and Rs 17 for rice. Procurement incidentals cost about Rs 3 and Rs 4 respectively and distribution costs amounted to about Rs 2.90 and Rs 2.80 respectively.

Can the costs be reduced? Farmers have to be given higher prices, otherwise they will not produce the grain. So, the only other way is to reduce distribution costs by expanding decentralized procurement, storage and distribution, the CBGA said. It also urged that locally produced coarse grain like millet should be included in the public distribution system in order to reduce the dependence on high cost wheat and rice.

What is perhaps little known, but of increasing relevance today, is the fact that many state governments are spending much beyond what the Centre gives to them as subsidy. Among these states are Karnataka (Rs 959 crore), Chhattisgarh (Rs 786 crore), Odisha (949 crore), MP (Rs 720 crore) and Kerala (395 crore), according to a CAG report on state finances analysed by the CBGA. Maharashtra, West Bengal and HP have incurred some amounts of spending on food subsidy, though their amounts are much smaller.

This additional spending in selected states indicates additional efforts being made by the state governments to expand the coverage of beneficiaries of PDS for grain. However, data from Tamil Nadu shows the state government has spent only an average of Rs 36 crore between 2005-06 and 2010-11 on food subsidy and storage and warehousing despite having one of the best running public distribution systems, under which rice was sold at Rs 2 universally before it was made free in 2011. This shows that it is possible to manage the universalized PDS much more efficiently, within restrained budgetary conditions too.

With the new food bill on the anvil, expenditures of state governments are set to go up as they will be required to meet the cost of additional storage and warehousing.

The Times of India, 19 February, 2013, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2013/02/19&PageLabel=17&Ent


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