The authorities has initiated measures to curb diversion of round a million tonne of agriculture grade urea yearly to industrial makes use of which has resulted in subsidy diversion of Rs 6,000 crore, an official mentioned on Tuesday.
The authorities gives urea at a extremely subsidised price of Rs 266 per bag (of 45 kg) to farmers, whereas it bears a subsidy of greater than Rs 2,700 per bag.
According to an official of the ministry of chemical substances and fertilisers, there’s an annual requirement of round 1.3 – 1.4 million tonne of technical-grade urea for industrial utilization, in opposition to a home manufacturing of round 150,000 tonne. The business imports solely 200,000 tonne, as in opposition to the required degree of greater than one million tonne.
“Around a million tone of agriculture-grade urea is getting diverted annually,” the official mentioned.
A national crackdown in opposition to items has been initiated by the division of fertilisers in collaboration with states.
Urea is utilized in numerous industries equivalent to resin, glue, plywood, crockery, moulding powder, cattle feed, dairy and industrial mining explosives.
The agriculture-grade urea is neem-coated whereas technical-grade urea shouldn’t be. The neem-coating is eliminated by some chemical course of after which the urea is used for industrial functions, an official mentioned.
Country’s annual demand of urea is round 35 MT of which 26 MT is domestically produced whereas the remainder is imported.
The authorities’s annual fertiliser subsidy invoice is more likely to be round Rs 2.3 trillion throughout this fiscal due to excessive worldwide costs.
Earlier, chemical substances and fertilisers minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said that the federal government wouldn’t cross on the burden of rise in world costs to farmers.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”