NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India is not likely to roll out a planned programme to subsidise food for tens of millions of people before the middle of the 2013/14 fiscal year that ends next March, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram told CNBC TV18 news channel on Friday.
On Thursday, Chidambaram made a smaller-than-expected commitment to food subsidies in his budget for the coming fiscal year, less than the 1.2 trillion rupees the food minister said two weeks ago India might have to spend.
Chidambaram said, it is too early to estimate the cost of the new food programme, which some economists fear will put pressure on the fiscal deficit.
The National Food Security Bill is an election promise of the ruling Congress-led coalition government and will give legal entitlement to beneficiaries to get cheaper grains. (Reporting by Mayank Bhardwaj)
