The growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to a 15-month low of 3.6 per cent in January, on account of poor performance of sectors like refinery products, fertiliser, steel and electricity, according to the official data released on Thursday. The growth of eight core sectors -- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity -- was 4.9 per cent in December. It was 9.7 per cent in January 2023. The previous low level of growth rate was recorded at 0.9 per cent in October 2022. Cumulatively also, the growth rate in the output of these sectors slowed down to 7.7 per cent as against 8.3 per cent in April-January 2022-23. The output growth of refinery products and fertiliser was in the negative zone. And the pace of increase in the output of coal, steel, and electricity decelerated during the month under review. However, crude oil, natural gas, and cement production recorded positive growth in January. The eight core sectors contr
The government on Wednesday announced a Rs 24,420-crore subsidy on phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the upcoming kharif season and said the farmers will continue to get key oil nutrient DAP at Rs 1,350 per quintal. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixing the Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for the Kharif Season 2024-25 from April 1 to September 30 on P&K fertilisers. Briefing reporters, I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said, "A nutrient-based subsidy of Rs 24,420 crore on P&K fertilisers has been approved for the kharif season starting April 1 till September 30." The minister said the subsidy on Nitrogen (N) has been fixed at Rs 47.02 per kg, phosphatic (P) at Rs 28.72 per g, potassic (K) at Rs 2.38 per kg and Sulphur (S) at Rs 1.89 per kg for 2024 kharif season, he said. The subsidy on phosphatic fertilisers has been increased to Rs 28.72 per kg for the 2024 kharif ...
An expert who conducted the audit stated that the chances of line pressurisation beyond the design condition are not a credible scenario
Farmers will have to be educated and factories will require capital expenditure
India's budget deficit is projected to be 5.8% of gross domestic product in 2023-24. The government aims to curb the deficit to 5.1% in the next financial year
Some in the industry fear a return of controls while others see positives in a govt circular, but the bigger issue is the skewed pricing in favour of urea
Annual fertiliser subsidy would remain within the FY24 Budget estimate of Rs 1.75 trillion and could have been lower had the crisis not erupted
All the sectors except for fertiliser recorded healthy production growth in the month under review
India's imports from Russia rose 64 per cent to USD 36.27 billion during the April-October period this fiscal on higher shipments of crude oil and fertiliser, according to the commerce ministry data. With this, Russia has become India's second-largest import source during the first seven months of this fiscal. The imports were USD 22.13 billion during April-October 2022. From a market share of less than 1 per cent in India's import basket before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia's share of India's oil imports rose to over 40 per cent. India, the world's third-largest crude importer after China and the United States, has been buying Russian oil after some countries in the West shunned it as a means of punishing Moscow for invading Ukraine. The ministry's data showed that imports from China dipped marginally to USD 60.02 billion during the period against USD 60.26 billion in the year-ago period. Similarly, imports from the US declined 16 per cent to USD 24.89 billion
Domestic credit ratings agency Crisil on Tuesday said some sectors such as fertilisers and diamonds may be slightly impacted by the conflict in the Middle East. On a broader basis, the conflict has caused only a negligible disruption in India's trade so far, it said in a note. Some sectors such as fertilisers and diamonds both cut and polished may see a slight, but manageable, impact, while for most others impact will be insignificant, it said. However, it said that the conflict which started after the surprise October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel has driven up prices of gold and crude oil which need to be watched. It said crude oil price movements are especially important for a country like India which depends on imports, and added that elevated crude oil prices have a cascading impact on a host of other sectors that consume the oil itself or linked raw materials. The agency said India's trade with Israel is relatively low, with the country accounting for only 1.9 per ce
An expenditure of Rs 22,303 crore is expected on the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) in the upcoming Rabi season
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for Rabi season, 2023-24, on Phosphatic and Potassic (P & K) fertilizers to ensure the availability of fertilisers to farmers at "subsidised, affordable and reasonable" rates.Briefing the media on the decisions of the union cabinet, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the decisions are expected to entail an expenditure of Rs 22,303 crore."Subsidy for the Rabi season from October 1, 2023 till March 31, 2024, will be like this - for the nitrogen it will be Rs 47.2 per kg, phosphorus will be Rs 20.82 per kg, potash subsidy will be Rs 2.38 per kg and the sulphur subsidy will be Rs 1.89 per kg," he said."The subsidy will continue because when international prices rise, the government does not want it to impact our farmers in the country... Subsidy on DAP will continue...DAP will be available for Rs 1350 per bag as per the old rate. The NPK will be available at Rs 1,470 per bag," he added.
An agriculture department official said that, according to the proposal, around Rs 21 crore will be given as subsidy to the farmers to use improved technology
A complex and unwieldy regulatory and monitoring process could raise the costs for Indian companies
Company will give them to 5,000 select entrepreneurs free of cost and train them for use
Six of eight key infrastructure industries report sequential deceleration
"There will be no shortages of fertilisers in the kharif season. We have adequate stocks, and our companies have made arrangements in advance," Mansukh Mandaviya said
India imported 34.19 lakh tonnes of fertilisers, including urea and DAP, from Russia during April-February of the current fiscal, highest in the last three years, according to the data placed before Parliament. The imports have risen notwithstanding the Russia-Ukraine war. "....import of urea in the current year up to February (during the ongoing Ukraine war) is more than double as compared to the previous year," Minister of State for Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba said in his written reply to the Lok Sabha. Out of total fertiliser import of 34.19 lakh tonnes, about 6.26 lakh tonnes of urea was imported till February of the ongoing 2022-23 financial year, as against 2.80 lakh tonnes imported during the entire previous fiscal, he said. Apart from urea, Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP) and NPK were the other fertilisers imported from Russia. DAP imports stood at 7.65 lakh tonnes, MoP at 0.43 lakh tonnes and NPK at 19.85 lakh tonnes during April-February period of th
Fertiliser major IFFCO Ltd is eyeing nano urea exports to 25 countries and expecting that output is likely to be 30 crore bottles by December 2024, a top company official said on Tuesday. The company is currently exporting the fertiliser to five countries, he said. "We have already produced six crore bottles of 500 ml each and have sold five crore units to farmers, which is equivalent to 22 lakh tonne of solid urea or conventional urea...We are already exporting to Sri Lanka, Nepal, Kenya, Suriname and Mexico," Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) Managing Director US Awasthi told PTI in an interview. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the world's first nano urea plant at Kalol in Gujarat last year, the company is exporting the fertiliser product, which has the potential to cut down the use of conventional urea, the most used Nitrogenous fertiliser, by 50 per cent or more, to the five nations, he said. Nano urea samples have been sent to 25 other countries and
Profit and turnover for the corresponding nine months of the previous year was Rs 119.84 crore and Rs 2,732.25 crore, respectively