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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Govt seeks to link urea prices to cost of fuel by Aman Malik

Govt seeks to link urea prices to cost of fuel by Aman Malik

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published Published on Feb 24, 2012   modified Modified on Feb 24, 2012

In a move that could hurt millions of farmers, the government plans to increase the price of urea and link it to the price of gas in an attempt to reduce its burgeoning fertilizer subsidy bill.

Urea is the only fertilizer that has a maximum retail price (MRP) still controlled by the government, which deregulated those of all others in April 2010. Urea sells in the market at Rs.5,310 per tonne, with the government subsidizing the difference between the cost of production and the market price.

For a start, the government is looking at raising the MRP of urea by a flat 10% from April, two senior fertilizer ministry officials said independently, on condition of anonymity. In addition, it is looking at passing the burden of any increase in the price of gas to farmers by incrementally revising MRP of urea beginning April 2013.

A draft cabinet note to this effect is in the final stages of preparation, the officials said. The note is likely to be taken up by the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) in a few weeks.

In effect, the proposed price mechanism would mean that any additional subsidy burden on account of an increase in the price of gas during a particular fiscal year would be passed on to farmers by way of an MRP increase in the following year.

That would help cap the subsidy burden of the government and prevent further escalation. The increase in the MRP will depend on the average gas price during the year.

“So, in effect, we will ensure that the per tonne subsidy on account of urea remains constant and the bill goes up only if there is an increase in the volume sales of the fertilizer,” said one of the two officials cited above. Urea is the most widely used fertilizer and accounts for 55%-60% of total fertilizer sales in the country.

On 10 November, Mint had first reported that the fertilizer subsidy bill for the current fiscal is likely to touch Rs.95,000 crore, the highest since 2008-09, when it had touched nearly Rs.1.2 trillion. Last year, urea contributed Rs.23,900 crore to the fertilizer subsidy bill. The figure this year is likely to be Rs.24,500 crore. India produces 21-22 million tonnes (mt) of urea every year, while about 7-8 mt is imported.

The changes proposed by the government were “cosmetic” and the government “really needs to free up the industry,” said U.S. Awasthi, managing director of the Indian Farmers’ Fertilizer Cooperative (Iffco) Ltd. “The fertilizer industry has been controlled for far too long now. This needs to end. The government should free urea prices now.”

If implemented, the proposal would effectively mean deregulation of the price of urea, said Sudhir Panwar, a professor at the University of Lucknow and an expert on farm issues. “Any move to link selling price to the price of gas would be deregulation, just that the government does not want to call it that. If there is a significant increase in gas price, either the farmer loses out on margin or prices of farm products go up.”

The cost of gas makes up 70-80% of the entire cost of urea production. The government now takes the entire hit by subsidizing the “variable cost” component.


Live Mint, 24 February, 2012, http://www.livemint.com/2012/02/23231103/Govt-seeks-to-link-urea-prices.html?atype=tp


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