In the budget, import duties on gold and silver have been reduced. After which gold and silver jewellery will be cheaper in the country. Mobiles and other things have also become cheaper. Till date, such a huge budget for jobs has never been maintained. This means that in this budget, all arrangements have been maintained to make the common people happy. But do you know that in this budget, subsidies have also been cut? This means that the relief grants related to the daily life of the common people have been reduced. Let us also try to explain to them to what extent the government of the country has reduced the subsidy, due to which the poor and middle class sections of the country seemed to be getting relief.
How much is the subsidy reduced?
The government has announced that it will reduce its spending on subsidies for food, fertiliser and fuel by 7.8 per cent in the full budget for the financial year 2024-25 presented in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. Presenting the budget in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the total allocation of subsidies for the current financial year is Rs 3,81,175 crore, lower than last year’s figure of Rs 4,13,466 crore. This cut is in line with the estimates made in the February interim budget.
How much will the food subsidy be reduced?
Rs 2,05,250 crore has been earmarked for food subsidy in this Budget, which is lower than the revised estimate of Rs 2,12,332 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2024. This subsidy covers the difference between the economic cost of foodgrains purchased by the government and the proceeds from their sale under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and other welfare schemes. Around 80 crore people are benefiting from this scheme. Some hardship may arise for the poor in the coming days.
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Fertilizer subsidy for farmers reduced
More significant cuts have been observed in fertiliser subsidies. In this regard, an amount of Rs 1,64,000 crore has been earmarked for 2024-25, against the revised estimate of Rs 1,88,894 crore for the last financial year. This means that around Rs 25,000 crore has been cut. This subsidy supports manufacturers and helps maintain affordable prices for farmers, including urea and non-urea fertilisers such as DAP and MOP. Due to the reduction in this subsidy, farmers’ costs will increase and inflation will rise in the country.
Cut in subsidies for gas cylinders
The biggest blow to the common people has been the reduction in petroleum subsidy. It has a direct connection with the kitchens of the common people of the country. Under the petroleum subsidy, the government has reduced the subsidy on LPG. According to the data, the government has kept this subsidy at Rs 11,925 crore for the current financial year, which is Rs 315 crore less than the last financial year. It can be said that the government has made a small cut, but according to the common people, it is quite big. The petroleum subsidy in the fiscal year 2023-24 was Rs 12,240 crore.
