To support the poor, the Centre is expected to continue with subsidised sale of sugar to about 25 million Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families, bearing a financial burden of around Rs 550 crore a year.
 

Officials said the finance ministry seemed to be amiable to a suggestion from the ministry of food for continuation of sugar subsidy for AAY families, as they were among the poorest of the poor. A Cabinet note could be prepared soon. The Centre had scrapped the subsidy on sugar amounting to Rs 4,500 crore in the 2017-18 Budget. 
 

The subsidy was granted to enable states to distribute cheap sugar to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families.
 

The explanation for scrapping the subsidy was that after implementation of the National Food Security Act, the APL-BPL bifurcation got diminished and states were unable to provide details of the extent of sugar subsidy that they incurred on BPL families.