India Subsidy Bill May Top $67 Billion in Risk to Budget Goals
- Government may cut other spending, plunge into small savings
- Finance ministry aims to meet its 6.4% fiscal deficit goal
This article is for subscribers only.
A pool of money India uses to subsidize some costs for the poor and farmers will be overshot by about a third, forcing the government to cut spending in other areas and dip into small savings to meet the extra expenditure, according to people familiar with the matter.
Subsidies on food, fertilizer and fuel will cost at least 5.4 trillion rupees ($67 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2023, against the budget estimate of 3.2 trillion rupees, the people said, asking not to be identified as the discussions are private.