Archive · 16 Dec 2025
FCI Considers ₹25,000 Crore Bond Issuance for Food Subsidy
The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is thinking about borrowing ₹25,000 crore through bonds to cover extra costs for food subsidies.
This is because the money they need for subsidies is much higher than what was planned.
The government stopped this kind of borrowing in 2021, but now they might start again because they have too much rice and wheat in storage.
The FCI gives out a lot of grain to people for free, but it's getting expensive.
The government is also feeling the pressure because they have less money coming in from taxes.
They are trying to figure out how to pay for everything without spending too much.
FCI is exploring ₹25,000 crore bond issuance to cover food subsidy shortfall in FY26.
Subsidy costs are projected to overshoot the budget by ₹30,000–40,000 crore.
FCI's expenditure for FY26 revised to ₹1.72 lakh crore from budgeted ₹1.43 lakh crore.
Government faces fiscal pressure due to tax revenue shortfalls and higher subsidy outgo.
FCI holds 53 MT of rice, over four times the buffer norm, due to excess procurement.
- Who
- Food Corporation of India (FCI)
- What
- Exploring ₹25,000 crore bond issuance for food subsidy
- When
- Discussions ongoing, timing not finalized
- Where
- India
- Why
- To bridge gap between budgeted allocations and higher projected food subsidy expenditure in FY26
- Amount to be raised
- ₹25,000 crore
- Last bond issuance
- August 2021 (₹8,000 crore)
- FY26 projected expenditure
- ₹1.72 lakh crore
- Budgeted expenditure for FY26
- ₹1.43 lakh crore
- Current rice stocks
- 53 MT (buffer norm: 10.25 MT)
- PMGKAY beneficiaries
- 810 million
- Annual procurement range
- 75–80 MT