Transfers of assorted subsidies and sops to the beneficiaries through the direct benefit transfer (DBT) route stood at Rs 2.8 lakh crore so far in FY19, 47% higher than such transfers during the whole of the previous year.

Savings to the government due to DBT in the first 11 months of this fiscal was `30,457 crore.

DBT-enabled savings were `32,984 crore in FY18 and `20,885 crore in FY17.

The savings are no longer increasing at the same pace as the amount transferred via DBT because an optimal level has been reached in case of schemes where the potential of savings was initially huge. For example, savings on PDS-food stood at `15,708 crore in FY18 whereas only `595 crore was saved on this item of expenditure this year.

Between FY15 (when the DBT scheme was launched) and so far in FY19, close to `6.54 lakh crore had been transferred to the beneficiaries, mostly as cash paid to their bank accounts but also (increasingly) as in-kind benefits.

The government’s total DBT savings since inception of the programme till February of FY19 was `1,20,470 crore.

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The jump in DBT in FY19 could be largely attributed to increased use of Aadhaar-enabled DBT platforms for Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Gramin) and in-kind fertiliser subsidy distribution. Out of the DBT-enabled gains of `30,457 crore till February of FY19, removal of fake beneficiaries helped in saving `14,116 crore (46%) under LPG-Pahal scheme, `10,000 crore (33%) in the sale of subsidised fertiliser and `4,168 crore (14%) under the job guarantee programme (MGNREGS).

From the start till February of this fiscal year, savings of `56,391 crore was made under LPG-Pahal scheme thanks to DBT, followed by `30,303 crore for PDS-food, `19,765 crore under the job guarantee scheme.

According to an estimate by the Centre, the Aadhaar-enabled DBT platform helped eliminate 4.09 crore fake liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections and 2.82 crore duplicate ration cards. It also resulted in reduction of 121 lakh tonne of fertiliser sale to retailers and 10% savings on wages on account of deletion of non-existent MGNREGS beneficiaries.