Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian on Thursday described the government’s direct benefit transfer (DBT) as a “game changer” for India.
“… essentially, what we find is that on an average, the DBT scheme has reduced subsidised domestic LPG sales by about 25%,” Subramanian said while speaking at the UNDP conference call.
He highlighted the fiscal impact of the government’s DBT scheme of cash transfers which yielded savings of over Rs.12,000 crore on domestic LPG in 2014-15.
“DBT is important not only for fiscal savings … if the government can deliver these services it would legitimise the state, it would arrest the ongoing trend of de-legitimisation of the state the world over,” Subramanian said at a roundtable here on “Direct Benefit and Basic Income Transfers” organised by the International Centre for Human Development.
The PAHAL scheme covers more than 9.75 crore LPG consumers and is the world’s largest cash transfer program as compared to similar programs in other countries. Under the scheme, LPG cylinders are sold at market rates and entitled consumers get the subsidy directly into their bank accounts through an Aadhaar linkage or a bank account linkage.