New Delhi, May 27 -- The cabinet approved a Rs.25,530 crore overhaul of its public food distribution network on Wednesday, merging two existing subsidy programmes into a single technology-led scheme designed to feed over 81.35 crore beneficiaries more efficiently and with less waste.

The five-year plan, starting in FY2027, will bring state transportation subsidies and fair price shop commissions under a single programme called Sarthak-PDS, while introducing artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning tools to monitor supply chains. The government expects the rationalisation of food grain transport routes to save Rs.280 crore annually, minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters after the cabinet committee on economic affairs (...