Government has approved a 9.5% increase in the ‘Material Cost’ under the PM POSHAN Scheme. This revision will take effect from May 1, 2025, and will be applicable across all States and Union Territories. With this enhancement, the Centre is set to incur an additional expenditure of approximately Rs 954 crore during the financial year 2025–26.
The PM POSHAN Scheme, which is a centrally sponsored initiative, provides one hot cooked meal daily to around 11.20 crore children studying in Balvatika and Classes I to VIII. These meals are served across 10.36 lakh Government and Government-aided schools throughout the country on all school days. The program aims to enhance children's nutritional intake and improve school attendance and retention.
The revised ‘Material Cost’ covers essential cooking ingredients such as pulses, vegetables, oil, spices, and fuel. The cost increase is based on inflation data collected by the Labour Bureau under the Consumer Price Index for Rural Labourers (CPI-RL).
This data reflects the price trends in a basket of essential goods used in mid-day meals, drawn from a sample of 600 villages across 20 States. Based on this inflation data, the Ministry of Education approved the cost hike to ensure that schools can continue to serve nutritious meals despite rising prices.
With the revised rates, the material cost per student per day has increased from Rs 6.19 to Rs 6.78 for Balvatika and primary classes, and from Rs 9.29 to Rs 10.17 for upper primary classes. While these are the minimum mandatory rates, States and Union Territories are allowed to contribute beyond their prescribed share to enhance the quality of meals, and many already do so using their own resources.
Apart from material costs, the Central Government also supplies about 26 lakh metric tonnes of foodgrains annually through the Food Corporation of India (FCI). The Centre bears the full cost of these foodgrains, including an annual subsidy of approximately Rs 9,000 crore, along with 100% of the transportation cost from FCI depots to schools.
Taking all components into account, the total cost per meal now stands at around Rs 12.13 for Balvatika and primary students, and Rs 17.62 for those in upper primary classes.
