Data Alert
India Apr-Jan major subsidies spending rises 7% to INR 3.38 tln
This story was originally published at 18:00 IST on 1 March 2025
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NEW DELHI – The government's expenditure on major subsidies in Apr-Jan rose 7.0% on year to INR 3.377 trillion, data from the Controller General of Accounts showed. The expenditure accounted for 88% of the revised estimate of INR 3.834 trillion for 2024-25 (Apr-Mar), compared with 76% in the same period of the previous fiscal year.
The food subsidy bill rose 15.1% to INR 1.705 trillion in Apr-Jan, which accounted for 86% of the allocation for the year. In Apr-Nov FY24, the government had utilised 70% of the allocation. The FY25 revised estimate of INR 1.97 trillion for food subsidies, outlined in the Union Budget presented on Feb. 1, is 3.8% lower than the Budget estimate for the fiscal year.
The government's spending on petroleum subsidies rose nearly fourfold to INR 69.77 billion in Apr-Jan, and accounted for 47% of the revised estimate. At INR 147.00 billion, the FY25 revised estimate for petroleum subsidies is 23.3% higher than the Budget estimate. The pace of annual rise in both food and fuel subsidies has slowed over the past two months.
Even the expenditure on fertiliser subsidies fell 3.2% to INR 1.602 trillion in the first 10 months of the year. The allocation of INR 1.713 trillion for fertiliser subsidies is higher than the FY25 Budget estimate of INR 1.640 trillion.
The following table details major subsidies in Apr-Jan (in INR billion):
| Apr-Nov FY25 | Apr-Nov FY24 | Revised estimate | Year-on-year % change | |
| Food | 1,705.42 | 1,481.40 | 1,974.20 | 15.1 |
| Fertiliser | 1,602.15 | 1,655.49 | 1,712.99 | (-)3.2 |
| Petroleum | 69.77 | 18.70 | 147.00 | 273.0 |
| Total | 3,377.33 | 3,155.59 | 3,834.19 | 7.0 |
End
Reported by Aaryan Khanna
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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