₹4,31,138 Crore: How the Government Achieved This Massive Savings Through Direct Benefit Transfer
DBT has been projected by the Centre as a leak-proof system wherein each rupee directly reaches the beneficiary’s bank account without any deductions or intermediaries.
The government’s official records show the largest chunk of savings—₹2,49,972 crore—coming from the Public Distribution System under the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
A total of ₹4,31,138.05 crore — that’s the latest estimate of the overall savings made by the Narendra Modi-led government owing to the nationwide implementation of the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system. This information was shared in Parliament on Monday.
“The rollout of DBT and various governance reforms has helped in the elimination of duplicate and bogus beneficiaries, as well as plugging leakages. Consequently, the government has been able to more accurately target the genuine and deserving recipients. These measures have led to estimated savings/benefits worth ₹4,31,138.05 crore (up to the financial year 2023–24),” the government stated in a response in Parliament.
It was also informed that a record ₹36,65,57 crore had been transferred to beneficiaries under multiple schemes via DBT during 2024–25. The government continues to promote DBT as a zero-leakage platform where every rupee reaches the beneficiary’s bank account without any cut or involvement of middlemen.
How were these savings made?
As per official government data, out of the ₹4.31 lakh crore in savings, the largest portion—₹2,49,972 crore—came from the Public Distribution System under the Department of Food and Public Distribution. This accounts for over 50% of the total savings and is attributed to the removal of 5.87 crore duplicate, fake, or non-existent ration cards.
The second-highest savings were recorded under the PAHAL scheme of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, which stood at ₹2,49,972.53 crore. These savings came about due to the removal of 4.23 crore fake, duplicate, or inactive LPG connections. Additionally, the count of non-subsidised LPG users stands at 2.38 crore. “These numbers (4.23 crore + 2.38 crore) include 1.15 crore ‘Give-it-Up’ consumers,” the latest government report stated.
Furthermore, the deletion of 1.26 crore fake and duplicate Job Cards under the MGNREGS of the Ministry of Rural Development led to savings of ₹58,058.98 crore by March 2024. Likewise, the removal of 2.1 crore ineligible beneficiaries from the PM Kisan Scheme has helped save ₹22,106 crore, according to the government.
