Policy Briefs & Reports

Food Subsidy and the National Food Security Act

Avani Kapur, Jenny Susan John
Mohammad Hamza Farooqui

Centre for Policy Research

February 16, 2021

Food Subsidy is provided by the Government of India (GoI) for the supply and distribution of foodgrains and other essential commodities.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) 2013, ensured nutritional security became a right by providing adequate quantities of quality food at affordable prices to two-thirds of India’s population.

Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, this brief uses government data to analyse:

Allocations, releases, and expenditures under Food Subsidy;
Trends in storage/stocking, procurement and distribution of foodgrains;
Coverage under NFSA;
Trends in foodgrain allocation, offtake and distribution under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY);
Status of adult malnutrition in India.