From June, fertiliser firms to get subsidy after PoS retail sale

Moving a step closer to introduce DBT in fertiliser sector, the government has decided to pay fertiliser subsidy to manufacturers from June onwards only after sale of soil nutrients via point of sale (Pos) devices at retail level. 

The move will help reduce the government's fertiliser subsidy bill by up to 20 per cent through plugging diversion and leakages. The Centre has provided over Rs 70,000 crore for subsidy payment for this fiscal.

"From the kharif season of this year, the subsidy will be transferred to the company the moment fertiliser gets sold via the PoS machines," Fertiliser Secretary Bharathi Sivaswami Sihag said. The government has decided to introduce this system from June this year in a phased manner after the success of its pilot study 'DBT in fertiliser sector' conducted in 17 districts across the country.

The new fertiliser subsidy payment would be slightly different from the normal direct benefit of transfer (DBT) being implemented in LPG subsidy. 

However, in case of DBT in the fertiliser sector, the subsidy will be released to the fertiliser companies instead of the beneficiaries, after the sale is made by the retailers to the beneficiaries via PoS machines.