The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved an increase in the annual family income eligibility limit for ration cards under the Priority Household (PHH) category from Rs 1.2 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh, a move aimed at expanding food security coverage to more low-income families in the national capital.
The decision, announced by Delhi Food and Supplies Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, is expected to benefit lakhs of households currently excluded from the Public Distribution System (PDS) due to the existing income ceiling.
Sirsa said the revision was necessary in view of the rising living costs and wage levels in Delhi. “Earlier, the income eligibility for ration cards was very low. In today’s times, even an annual income of Rs 1 lakh is below the level of minimum wages for a family. Keeping this in mind, the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi Government has increased the income limit to Rs 2.5 lakh so that more deserving families can avail of the benefits of subsidised ration under the PDS system,” he said.
According to the government data, Delhi currently has 64.93 lakh beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) and Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), holding around 15.46 lakh ration cards. Of these, over 62.46 lakh beneficiaries fall under the Priority Household category, while 2.46 lakh beneficiaries are covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
Officials said the existing Rs 1.2 lakh annual income ceiling under Rule 3(1) of the Delhi Food Security Rules, 2026, no longer reflected Delhi’s socio-economic realities, especially amid rising expenditure on housing, transport, education and healthcare. The government noted that minimum wages for unskilled workers in Delhi now exceed Rs 18,000 per month, translating to nearly Rs 2.16 lakh annually for a single-earner household.
The Cabinet has also approved the implementation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)-based ration distribution mechanism aimed at improving transparency, portability and accountability in the PDS network.
Under the proposed system, the subsidy equivalent of entitled foodgrains would be credited directly into the beneficiaries’ CBDC wallets. Beneficiaries would then be able to purchase ration from authorised fair price shops (FPS) or empanelled outlets using digital payments through QR codes or OTP-based authentication.
Officials said the CBDC amount would remain purpose-bound and could only be used for purchasing entitled foodgrains, unlike unrestricted Direct Benefit Transfers (DBT).
The pilot project is already being implemented by the Union Government in Gujarat, Chandigarh, Puducherry, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
Delhi currently operates 1,943 fair price shops through e-PoS devices and already has the One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC) infrastructure in place, which officials said would support the transition to the CBDC model.
The government said the digital system would provide beneficiaries with greater flexibility, real-time visibility of entitlements and transaction histories, improved audit trails and reduced disputes at ration shops. It also plans to gradually shift sugar distribution for AAY households to the CBDC mode.
