The Government of India through the Department of Fertilizers imports urea (Agriculture purpose) on Government account to bridge the gap between production and assessed demand. The import of urea and its value in Billion US$ during the 2023-24 is as under:

 

Quantity (in Lakh MT) of urea imported in 2023-24	Value of urea in Billion US$	Quantity (in Lakh MT) of urea imported from China in 2023-24	Value of urea imported from China in Billion US$
70.42	2.6080	18.65	0.7320

 

As far as P&K fertilizers are concerned, these grades of fertilizers are covered under Open General License (OGL) under the Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme (NBS). They are imported by the companies on their commercially viable terms. The value of imported P&K fertilizers is not maintained in the Department. However, the quantum of P&K fertilizers imported during the year 2023-24 is given in the table below:

 

Quantity (in Lakh MT) of P&K fertilizers imported in 2023-24	Quantity (in Lakh MT) of P&K fertilizers imported from China in 2023-24
106.53	22.58

 

In order to attain self-sufficiency in the Urea in the country, the Government of India mandated revival of Ramagundam (Telangana), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Talcher (Odisha) units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) and Barauni (Bihar) unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd. (HFCL) through Joint Venture Company (JVC) of nominated PSUs for setting up new ammonia-urea plants of 12.7 LMTPA capacity each. The Ramagundam and Gorakhpur units were commissioned on 22.03.2021 and 07.12.2021 respectively.  Also, Barauni and Sindri units started urea production on 18.10.2022 and 05.11.2022 respectively. These plants have added 50.8 LMT per annum of indigenous urea production in the country.

Government has implemented Nutrient Based Subsidy Policy w.e.f. 1.4.2010 for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) Fertilizers. Under the policy, a fixed amount of subsidy, decided on an annual/bi-annual basis, is provided on notified P&K fertilizers depending on their nutrient content. Under this policy, MRP is fixed by fertilizer companies as per market dynamics at a reasonable level which is monitored by the Government. While fixing the subsidy rates under NBS, the Government takes into consideration various factors including affordability of farmers to purchase the notified P&K fertilizers.

To make country self-reliant in fertilizer production, the following measures have been taken:

1. Permission is granted to the fertilizer companies for increasing their manufacturing capacity which are under NBS and for induction of new P&K companies & their fertilizer products under NBS,
2. Potash derived from Molasses (PDM) which is 100% indigenously manufactured fertilizer has been notified under Nutrient based subsidy (NBS) scheme.
3. Freight Subsidy on SSP which is an indigenously manufactured fertilizer, has been made applicable. This will help in promotion of SSP usage for providing Phosphatic or ‘P’ nutrient to the soil.

Fertilizer Control Order (FCO)-1985 has laid down fertilizer-wise detailed specifications. Any fertilizer, not meeting the said specifications, cannot be sold in the country for agricultural purposes. Clause 19 of FCO strictly prohibits the sale or manufacture of fertilizers which are not of prescribed standards.

Any sale of substandard/adulterated fertilizers is punishable under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Moreover, in order to regulate the sale of adulterated fertilizers in the state, there is a District Quality control mechanism for awareness & vigilance at the field level and awareness is spread among the farmers on the regular basis through press note, TV talks, Kishan Gosti, Krishimela, Krishi Mahotsav etc.

Under NBS Scheme subsidy is provided uniformly to all fertilizers companies which are registered under NBS Scheme, based on the Point of Sale (POS) and Subsidy rates prevailing. Further, monitoring of quality is subject matter of the State Governments.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers Smt. Anupriya Patel in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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