8/20/2019 Fertiliser Sector

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With regard to the Fertiliser Industry, I have the following suggestions:

• There is a need to increase the urea price by at least 15 per cent. The currentselling price of urea which is highly subsidised is almost one-fourth

the world price . There is a potential over the next four years to increase ureaprice every year gradually so that the subsidy levels are reduced .

• Further due to the product being very cheap, there is excessive use of ureaand this affects the soil. By increasing the price this can lead to more

balanced fertilization and lower subsidy outgo .

• The Fertiliser industry is the best candidate for direct benefit transfer(DBT). urrently, the subsidy is paid through the fertiliser companies.This is totally unnecessary. f the farmers are given subsidy directly!this will not only stop lea"age but will also avoid unnecessary paper

wor" and red-tapism .

• The current move of the #overnment to grant support to organiccompost is a welcome move as this ensures replacement of carboninto the soil thereby ma"ing it more conducive for farming .

• The ma$or challenge in the farm sector relates to irrigation as thepercentage of land under irrigation is still less than %&-%'per cent andma$ority of ndian farmland is rain-fed or monsoon dependent.Invest!ent in lin"ing of rivers and building of canals to syste!atically increaseirrigated area every year should be part of the budget.

• urrently in the phosphatic sector, there is a cu!berso!e procedure to reclai!subsidy and freight. It is desirable to have freight !erged into the subsidy so thatthere is only one stage of disburse!ent. # weighted average freight can be usedfor this purpose. urrently, freight bills have to be sub!itted separately and verified and then paid. #ll these results in a lot of paper wor" delay.

• $ingle $uper %hosphate &$$%' is the appropriate fertiliser for the s!all and!arginal far!ers. The current syste! of subsidy is not conducive to pro!otion of $$% usage. ountries li"e (ra)il have used this cheaper alternative with so!esupport rather than depend on i!ported di*a!!oniu! phosphate &+#%'. The whole policy towards $$% needs to be reloo"ed. #t least !illion tons of $$% can be used in addition to the current usage. This will bring down i!ports of +#% by at least - !illion tons annually.