Subsidy bill on account of three Fs — fertilizer, food and fuel — is set to rise by 17 per cent during this fiscal. However, it has been pegged lower by 28 per cent in FY24.

According to the Budget document, the government has pegged total subsidies on food, fertilizers and fuel at ₹5.22-lakh crore in its revised estimate (RE) for FY23 as against the actual budget of ₹4.46-lakh crore in the last fiscal. The fertilizer subsidy is estimated to increase to ₹2.25-lakh crore this fiscal from ₹1.54-lakh crore in FY22 as subsidies on both urea as well as non-urea nutrients like DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) surged.

Subsidy on urea is set to rise to ₹1.54-lakh crore from ₹1.01-lakh crore, while that on phosphatic & potassic (P&K) fertilizers to ₹71,122.23 crore from ₹52,769.97 crore. Petroleum subsidy, too, is estimated to rise to ₹9,170.50 crore from ₹3,422.60 crore in the said period.

However, the food subsidy is estimated to decline marginally to ₹2.87-lakh crore in FY23 from ₹2.89-lakh crore in 2021-22.

For the next fiscal, the total subsidies on food, fertilizers and petroleum are estimated to decline by 28 per cent to ₹3,74,707.01 crore from ₹5,21,584.71 crore in 2022-23. Out of this, fertilizer subsidy is estimated to fall to ₹1,75,099.92 crore during 2023-24 from ₹2,25,220.16 crore this fiscal. Petroleum subsidies are estimated to come down to ₹2,257.09 crore from ₹9,170.50 crore in the current fiscal.

Food subsidy is estimated to fall sharply to ₹1,97,350 crore in FY24 from ₹2,87,194.05 crore in 2022-23 as the government has discontinued a free foodgrains scheme launched during the pandemic.

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