Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Fertiliser subsidy bill balloons but government opposes any price revision

Fertiliser subsidy bill balloons but government opposes any price revision

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jan 23, 2013   modified Modified on Jan 23, 2013
-The Economic Times

A Committee of Secretaries (CoS) recommendation for a 10% increase in urea prices notwithstanding, the fertiliser ministry is in no mood to bite the bullet. The ministry has categorically said in a note that it opposes the recommendation and that there should be no price revision.

The Cabinet has been deferring a price raise for the last six months due to the fertiliser ministry's opposition. The government has been able to raise urea prices only twice in the last one decade. In 2010, it raised the price by 10% from Rs 4,830 per tonne to Rs 5,310 per tonne. A couple of months ago, it revised the price by Rs 50 per tonne to Rs 5,360 a tonne.

"The government wants to raise urea prices as fertiliser subsidy has risen to cross Rs 1 lakh crore mark. Cheaper urea, being overused by the farmers, contributes to around 60% of total subsidy burden. While other nutrients like DAP, SSP are drawn out of a fixed subsidy regime, urea is the only soil nutrient which is completed shielded from any movement of global prices," said a fertiliser ministry official.

Sources said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who appears to be on a deregulation spree, wants urea prices to go up. He has formed a group of ministers (GoM) led by agriculture minister Sharad Pawar to look into the issues related with urea including a price increase. Finance minister P Chidambaram, who has often written to the fertiliser minister for expediting a price revision, will also be the member of the GoM.

Fertiliser subsidy bill balloons but government opposes any price revision
"Sharad Pawar has been opposing any move to raise prices. Now that he is likely to chair the GoM, a price revision is unlikely," the official added. Fertiliser producers want the government to raise urea prices because this could lead to a balanced use of fertilisers.

"The government should raise the urea prices by at least Rs 750 a tonne. It's long overdue," said US Awasthi, managing director, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco), the country's largest fertiliser fertiliser supplier.

Non-urea fertilisers like DAP and NPK are more than three times expensive than urea. This has led to an indiscriminate use of urea distorting the ideal NPK ratio of 4:2:1 to 6.5:2.9:1, badly affecting the soil health and its productivity. The industry has demanded that the government maintain the price of phosphatic fertilisers at the current levels by enhancing subsidy for these soil nutrients for the next two years.

"The amount of subsidy saved by increasing urea prices can be used to offset the increase in global prices of non-urea complexes. If urea prices are increased by 70%, the government can save the annual subsidy of up to Rs 15,000 crore which can be used to subsidise the phosphatic DAP," said Satish Chander, director general, Fertiliser Association of India (FAI), an industry body.

The Economic Times, 23 January, 2013, http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/fertiliser-subsidy-bill-balloons-but-government-opposes-any-price-revision/articleshow/18140469.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close