The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Bloomberg
India will provide free grains to about 800 million people for one year, a move that could help the ruling party reap political benefits and set the tone for PM Narendra Modi’s reelection for a third term.
The government will spend 2 trillion rupees ($24.1 billion) on the program, Food Minister Piyush Goyal said after a cabinet meeting. The new initiative will replace an earlier drive of highly-subsidised food grains for eligible people in the world’s second-biggest producer and consumer of wheat and rice.
In addition to the subsidised grains, the government was giving away 5 kilograms of wheat or rice every month to millions of Indians since the beginning of the pandemic.
After multiple extensions in the past, it is now set to expire at the end of the month. Many consumers may now restart buying the grains from the open market, potentially raising prices and posing fresh challenges to the central bank’s efforts to cool inflation.
The latest announcement comes ahead of polls in several states in 2023 and the general election in 2024.