The government's subsidy outgo will increase marginally to Rs 71,430.60 crore in 2008-09 as compared to the revised estimate of Rs 69,742 crore of the current financial year.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has provided a food subsidy of Rs 32,666.59 crore in 2008-09 to meet the difference between economic cost of food grains and their sales realisation through Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

Revised estimate of food subsidy in 2007-08 was Rs 31,545.59 crore. The subsidy to make indigenous fertiliser/urea available at affordable price to farmers has been kept unchanged at Rs 12,900.37 crore, while the same provided to make imported urea/ fertiliser affordable has gone up marginally to Rs 7,238.99 crore.

Another Rs 10,847.10 crore has been provided for payments to manufacturers/imports of de-controlled fertilisers. Chidambaram has also provided Rs 2,884.43 crore towards subsiding domestic cooking gas (LPG) and PDS kerosene.

Interest subsidy - to cover for concessional rate of interest on loans sanctioned by the government - has come down to Rs 2,829.15 crore from Rs 2,657.63 crore in 2007-08.

The biggest component of the interest subsidy is Rs 1,600 crore provided for interest subvention for providing short-term credit to farmers.

Besides, the government will provide Rs 2,064.07 crore other subsidies, including grant to NAFED (Rs 500 crore), subsidy to Shipyards (Rs 230.01 crore), subsidy for operations of Haj Charter (Rs 413 crore) and subsidy on maintenance of buffer stock of sugar (Rs 350 crore).

Your Budget search made easy!