India's food security programme to cost $21 billion a year: Food Minister

New Delhi: India's recently rolled out national food security welfare programme will cost the government 1.4 trillion rupees ($21.00 billion) a year, Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said on Thursday.

The ultra-cheap food welfare programme, introduced by the previous Congress-led government, will cover 50 per cent of urban and 75 per cent of rural areas India.

Under the new law, which was rolled out across the country on November 1, beneficiaries will get wheat at 2 rupees a kilogram and rice at 3 rupees per kilogram.