The Union government has made substantial cuts in subsidies for food and fertilisers in the Budget for the upcoming financial year, presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Tuesday.

But the Budget significantly increased allocations for sectors allied to agriculture, such as fisheries and animal husbandry. 

 The Centre is planning to set aside more than $40 billion (nearly Rs 3 lakh crore) for food and fertilizer subsidies in the Union Budget for the financial year 2022-23, according to global news agency Reuters.

According to the officials, the Centre budgeted roughly the same amount for this fiscal year ending in March.

As the COVID-19 crisis battered the country’s economy, the Modi government had to step up expenditure on subsidies and social welfare programmess.

This led to massive subsidy bills for the current fiscal year. A sharp rise in global prices of chemicals was another factor that contributed to this.