Subsidy bill to go up by 15% to 2.6 lakh cr 

New Delhi: Subsidies on food, fertiliser and petroleum have been pegged higher by 15 per cent to Rs 2.64 lakh crore for the 2018-19 fiscal. The subsidy bill on food, petroleum and fertilisers is estimated at Rs 2,64,335.65 crore for the financial year 2018 -19, according to the Budget 2018-19 presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament today.

The subsidy bill is seen at Rs 2,29,715.67 crore for the current financial year 2017-18, as per the revised Budget estimates. The government has earmarked Rs 1,69,323 crore for food subsidy in the next fiscal as against Rs 1,40,281.69 crore in the revised estimate of this fiscal.