Lok Sabha Question No. 1709 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-30
Subject: Food Subsidy Arrears for States
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Shri Saumitra Khan, Shri Sanatan Pandey

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1709

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30TH JULY, 2025

## FOOD SUBSIDY ARREARS FOR STATES

## 1709. SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN: SHRI SANATAN PANDEY:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION be pleased to state:

- (a) whether there is any outstanding amount of  food subsidy against West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh to  be  released under  schemes like  National  Food  Security  Act  (NFS A),  Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKAY), Integrated Child Development  Services (ICDS) and Public Distribution  System  (PDS);
- (b) if  so, the details of the total outstanding funds alongwith  the reasons for  delay in the release of said funds;
- (C) the expected  time frame for the release of the said funds;
- (d) whether the welfare schemes and food distribution  system have been affected in the said States due to the said delay;  and
- (e) the steps taken by the Governments to ensure timely  disbursement of  food subsidy to West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and the other States?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF STATE FOR MINISTRY  OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

(SHRIMATI  NINIUBEN JAYANTIBHAI  BAMBHANIYA)

(a) to (d): Payment of  admissible  amount to  States for  Central Pool  procurement of  food grains is made by Food Corporation of India(FCI) on the basis of the claims made by State Governments and their agencies as per the Cost Sheet, which  includes Minimum  Support Price (MSP) of the food grain and other incidentals. Further, provisional food subsidy is released to States that have opted for Decentralized Procurement (DCP) mode, including West Bengal, on the basis of their quarterly food subsidy claims, which is an ongoing and continuous process. These claims  are processed keeping in  view  the  opening  and closing  balance of  stocks, procurement , allocation and distribution of food grains under various Central Schemes,  Food Corporation of  India's  reconciliation, utilization  Certificates received, implementation  of guidelines issued by Government of  India, economic cost of  food grains etc. Despite pendency of compliance to certain guidelines by the State, Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD), Government of India  has been continuously releasing the admissible amount of funds to  the  Government of  West Bengal against their  claims. Rs.6,162.66 Crore, Rs.7,115.17 Crore, Rs.226.32 Crore and Rs.9598.55 Crore and Rs.78.04 Crore have been released to the State Government during the financial years 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 (till 28.07.2025) respectively.

Further, as Uttar  Pradesh has adopted non DCP mode of  procurement, no subsidy is being released by DFPD. However, for distribution of  Coarse grains by State Government of Uttar  Pardesh, Rs. 119.92 Crore  was released during  FY  2025-26  (till  28.07.2025).

- (e) For timely release of  food subsidy claims and  the  issuance of  provisional cost  sheets, the DFPD has launched an online portal namely the Subsidy Claim Application for NFS A (SCAN) on 05.12.2024 and all  the claims are being processed and settled through SCAN portal only.

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