Page 4 - Fertilisers

Russia's export of mineral fertilisers may drop by 15% this year

Russia's export of mineral fertilizers may drop by 15 per cent this year, better than a 20-per cent reduction projected in the summer, said a top official

Fertiliser shares rally in weak market; MFL, NFL, RCF surge up to 18%

In the past one month, the market prices of RCF, MFL, FACT and NFL have surged in the range of 38 per cent to 60 per cent on the BSE

India imports 4.61 mn tonnes of urea in April-November this fiscal

Urea production stood at 187.21 lakh tonnes during April-November period of this fiscal, while imports were at 46.14 lakh tonnes to meet domestic demand. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Bhagwanth Khuba shared the data for consumption, production and import of urea in the last three years. As per the data, urea production stood at 250.72 lakh tonnes in the 2021-22 fiscal as against 246.05 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 and 244.58 lakh tonnes in the 2019-20 financial year. Urea imports stood at 91.36 lakh tonnes in the last fiscal, 98.28 lakh tonnes in 2020-21 and 91.23 lakh tonnes in 2019-20. Urea is presently sold in 45-kg bags and the maximum retail price (MRP) is Rs 242 per bag (excluding charges towards neem coating and taxes as applicable). "The subsidy provided per 45kg bag of urea is approximately Rs 1800 (Q1 of 2022-23)," the minister said. The difference between the production cost and MRP is reimbursed as subsidy to fertilis

After toys, govt looks to curb China electric fan, smart meter imports

Since the quality control order 3 years ago, toy import down 70 per cent

India imports 2.34 mn tons of fertiliser including urea, DAP in October

The country imported 23.4 lakh tonne of fertilisers, including urea and Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP), in October this year, according to official data. Out of the total fertiliser imports, DAP was maximum at 14.70 lakh tonne, followed by urea at 4.60 lakh tonne, Muriate of Potash (MoP) at 2.36 lakh tonne and complexes at 1.70 lakh tonne in the said month, the data showed. Meanwhile, the domestic production of fertilisers was 36.19 lakh tonne in October, lower than the target of 41.54 lakh tonne set for the month. Against the assessed requirement of 71.47 lakh tonne fertilisers for October, the availability was less at 64.28 lakh tonne, and sales stood at 53.34 lakh tonne during the period, as per the data. Barring urea and ammonia, prices of DAP and fertilisers had shown an increase in the global market in October when compared to the year-ago period. Urea is highly subsidised at Rs 5,360 per tonne in the country. The government also offers subsidies on other fertilisers to ensure

Govt refutes any shortage of fertilisers in rabi season, says enough supply

The Centre on Friday said there is adequate availability of key fertilisers, including urea and DAP, across the country for the ongoing rabi season, rejecting reports of shortage in Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. "There have been some media reports claiming shortage of fertilizers in Trichy, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. Such reports are beyond the facts," the Fertiliser Ministry said in a statement. It is clarified that there is more than adequate availability of fertilizers in the country to meet the needs of the ongoing rabi (winter) season, it said. The central government is sending fertilizers as per need to all states, and it is the responsibility of respective state governments to ensure availability within the states through proper intra-district and inter-district distribution, it added. According to the ministry, urea requirement is projected at 180.18 lakh tonne for the 2022 rabi season. The pro rata requirement up to November 16 was 57.40 lakh tonne against which the government

Today's fertilizer shortage is tomorrow's food crisis: PM Modi at G-20

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday cautioned the G-20 leaders that today's fertiliser shortage could become tomorrow's food crisis as he strongly pitched for maintaining a "stable" supply chain for both manure and food grains. In his address at the G-20 summit here, Modi also highlighted how India ensured food security for its 1.3 billion citizens during the Covid-19 pandemic while supplying food grains to many countries. "The current shortage of fertilizers in terms of food security is also a huge crisis. Today's fertilizer shortage is tomorrow's food crisis, for which the world will not have a solution," Modi told the gathering which included US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron. "We should build mutual agreement to maintain the supply chain of both manure and food grains stable and assured. In India, for sustainable food security, we are promoting natural farming, and re-popularising nutritious and traditional ...

Gehlot asks officials to ensure timely supply of fertilisers to farmers

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday directed officials to ensure time-bound supply and distribution of DAP and urea to farmers for sowing rabi crops, according to an official release. Gehlot issued the directions at a meeting held to review the supply of fertilisers and electricity. The chief minister asked officials to make sure that power supply to the farmers in the state is not interrupted at any cost. Sufficient electricity should be made available to the farmers to irrigate rabi crops, the release said. Gehlot said the government is working with commitment to ensure supply of fertilisers to farmers for sowing rabi crops, it said. He was informed that due to good rainfall in October, rabi sowing has increased by 15 lakh hectares as compared to last year. "There has been an increase of about 103 per cent in sowing of wheat, 87 per cent in barley, 16 per cent in mustard and taramira, 27 per cent in gram and about 56 per cent in other crops as compared to last year.

Centre spent Rs 10 trn to provide affordable fertilisers to farmers: Modi

The Centre has spent approximately Rs 10 lakh crore during the last eight years to see that farmers in the country are not burdened by the high global prices of fertilisers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Modi, who was speaking after laying foundation stones and dedicating to the nation multiple projects worth over Rs 9,500 crore at Ramagundam in Telangana, said the Union government would spend more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore this year to make fertilisers available to the farmers at affordable rates. He also said his government has transferred more than Rs 2 lakh crore to the bank accounts of farmers under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme. The Prime Minister said five big fertiliser plants in the country that were lying closed for years are being restarted towards achieving 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance) in urea. The Gorakhpur plant in Uttar Pradesh has started production and the Ramagundam plant has been dedicated to the nation. When these five plants are fully ...

Cabinet hikes ethanol prices, approves subsidy for non-urea fertilisers

The industry has on several occasions told the government the price of ethanol produced from sugar juice or syrup should be based on returns on equity

Cabinet approves Rs 51,875 cr subsidy for P&K fertilisers for rabi season

The government on Wednesday approved a subsidy of Rs 51,875 crore for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for second half of 2022-23 as part of efforts to provide affordable soil nutrients to farmers. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) rates for P&K fertilisers for 2022-23 rabi season, an official statement said. The CCEA has approved a subsidy of Rs 98.02 per kg for nitrogen (N), Rs 66.93 per kg for phosphorus (P), Rs 23.65 per kg for potash (K) and Rs 6.12 per kg for sulphur (S), it said. "Subsidy approved by the Cabinet for the NBS Rabi-2022 (from 01.10.2022 to 31.03.2023) will be Rs 51,875 crore including support for indigenous fertiliser (SSP) through freight subsidy," the statement said. This will enable smooth availability of all P&K fertilisers to farmers during the rabi season at subsidized / affordable prices and support the agriculture sector, it said. "The ...

Rajasthan govt takes action to prevent black marketing of fertilisers

Agriculture Commi­ssioner Kana Ram said teams formed to check illegal activities at the level of agriculture commissionerate had been sent to districts.

PM expresses concern on high import bill for edible oil, fertlisers

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday expressed concern over the huge edible oil and fertilisers import bill, which is putting pressure on the exchequer, saying it is time to work in mission mode to make India self-reliant and reduce import dependence. Modi said it was necessary to become 'AatmaNirbhar' or self-reliant because problems in the exporting countries directly hit import prices for India as happened after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war. Addressing a gathering after launching several projects related to the agriculture sector, the Prime Minister said it is important to reduce dependence on imported edible oil and fertilisers, and even crude oil to the extent possible. Modi said the government would be spending Rs 2.5 lakh crore on the import of soil nutrients this year only to ensure high global prices do not affect farmers. He also said the government was purchasing urea from overseas for Rs 75-80 per kg but was supplying it to farmers at Rs 5-6 per kg to protec

Godhan Nyay Yojana: Chhattisgarh eyes subsidy for vermicompost production

As of now, the Chhattisgarh government has purchased 7.35 million quintals of cow dung, paying Rs 147.06 crore to the committees and strengthening the rural economy

After dung, Chhattisgarh's Congress govt to use cow urine as fertiliser

About two months ago, Chief Minister Baghel had envisaged using cow urine for strengthening the rural economy and organic farming

Fertiliser stks prey to subsidy withdrawal risk, high input costs: Analysts

The risk of a breach of the government's fiscal deficit target could play a spoilsport for the sector as it could prompt the Centre to cut back on subsidy support, analysts believe.

India set to be self-sufficient in urea by 2025 even without help from nano

The commissioning of new plants is expected to bring down import dependency to less than half of current levels

Crackdown on urea diversion to plug Rs 6,000-crore subsidy leakage

In the last two-and-a-half months, the government has identified leakages worth Rs 100 crore through various covert operations

India may not need to import urea after 2025, says Mansukh Mandaviya

This is owing to rising domestic production, nano supplies

Centre seizes 35,000 bags of urea diverted from agricultural use

Being highly subsidised, there is always a tendency to divert urea towards non-agriculture purposes