Centre saves subsidy and wheat stocks by making PDS free, ending PMGKAY

If PMGKAY was continued beyond December 2022, at least Rs 40,000 crore would have got spent for three months (Jan to March)

The Centre seems to have made a smart move to not only limit its food subsidy outgo, which was going out of hand due to unabated extensions of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) but also saved a good chunk of wheat for effective intervention in the open market. This is through its latest decision to make PDS totally free but end extra allocations under PMGKAY, said experts.
 

This is aside from the huge political significance ahead of Lok Sabha elections in 2024 because ration in India has seldom been given free nationally except in case of emergencies such