Budget in a Minute: What are subsidies and what they cost the govt?

Subsidies continue to remain a topic of heated debate during budgets. Government subsidies are basically cash discounts to members of certain sections of the society to procure commodities such as rice, wheat, kerosene, petrol or gas cylinders that reduce the burden on the common man.
Gaurav Choudhury, Deputy Executive Editor at Moneycontrol explains all you need to know about government subsidies, ahead of Budget 2019