India is introducing the world’s largest subsidised food plan next month; it will offer life-saving grains to around 810 million people.

India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi announced the flagship National Food Security Bill will roll out from August, starting off in the country’s capital New Delhi. That date has been chosen to coincide with the anniversary of Ms Gandhi’s husband Rajiv, who was killed by a suicide bomber in 1991.

The party chief has urged the leaders of states outside Delhi to implements the programme as well, reports says other states including Karnataka and Uttarakhand are expected to sign up soon.

The scheme is the realisation of a major election platform promise in the 2009 national vote which ousted a previous regime that had been marked by corruption and unpopularity.

According to UNICEF, malnutrition is present in 46 per cent of India's children aged below three.