Sugar and red gram being supplied to white ration cardholders in the State are set to become dearer with the government reportedly making it clear that it will not be possible to continue the subsidy on these two essential commodities. It has asked the Civil Supplies Department to work out the mechanism “independently.”
The price of red gram supplied to cardholders will go up to ₹67 per kg from the existing ₹40 per kg. Same will be the case with sugar whose price will shoot up to ₹34 per kg from the existing ₹20 per kg. Their prices will go up further if the trends in the open market were to be taken into account, sources say.
There are over 1.47 crore white ration cardholders in the State.
The revision, however, is not applicable to Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) cardholders who number about 1.60 lakh. They continue to get sugar at ₹ 16 a kg and red gram at ₹ 20 per kg as the Central government bears the subsidy burden.
“The government asked us to explore the available options. In a nutshell, we were told that it would not be possible to extend the subsidy,” said a senior official who did not want to be quoted.
The government has to supply about 5,000 tonnes each of sugar and red gram to the white card cardholders.
Regular tracking
The situation is reviewed every quarter, and the prices of red gram and sugar may come down if the supplies improve. Sugar prices keep fluctuating, but as red gram is procured from Markfed or Nafed, its price is unlikely to change significantly. Last year, the government paid ₹51 per kg and ₹48 per kg to Markfed and Nafed respectively, the official said.
The government reviewed the sugar and red gram prices and decided to revise them in keeping with the trend in the open market. In February, it was decided to extend a subsidy of 25% on the open market price.
