India’s Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system has streamlined welfare delivery since 2014, curbing leakages and ensuring direct fund disbursal. A BlueKraft Digital Foundation report reveals the system saved ₹3.48 lakh crore from 2009 to 2024, with a 16x jump in beneficiaries. The newly introduced Welfare Efficiency Index (WEI) quantifies these improvements.

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• DBT saved ₹3.48 lakh crore from 2009–2024
• 16x rise in beneficiaries: 11 crore to 176 crore
• Subsidy share dropped from 16% to 9% of govt expenditure
• ₹1.85 lakh crore saved in food subsidy via Aadhaar-linked PDS
• MGNREGS saw 98% timely wage transfers; saved ₹42,534 crore
• PM-KISAN saved ₹22,106 crore by removing 2.1 crore ineligible names
• Fertilizer subsidy reforms saved ₹18,699 crore via targeted delivery
• COVID-19 caused temporary subsidy spike, efficiency returned post-pandemic
• Positive correlation (0.71) between coverage & savings
• WEI rose from 0.32 (2014) to 0.91 (2023), proving rising efficiency