Centre tells fertiliser makers not to hike prices

The Centre on Friday directed suppliers of fertilisers to withhold any proposed hike in selling prices for vitamins and minerals, which include sophisticated fertilisers. It also saved the nutrient-primarily based subsidy (NBS) scheme unchanged for potassic and phosphatic fertilisers for 2021-22, till further orders.

Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Point out for Chemical and Fertilisers, introduced the Centre’s choice stating that the corporations have been requested to demand aged premiums for decontrolled fertilisers.

“A significant-degree conference was convened to assess the situation arising following fertiliser selling price hike and availability difficulties cropped up in the country. The Centre has directed fertiliser suppliers not to hike fertilizer selling prices,” Mandaviya reported in a statement.

Mandavia further said that the corporations have agreed to the government’s directive and that the farmers will carry on to get the sophisticated fertilisers, which include DAP/MOP/NPK, at the aged premiums.

Fertiliser makers, which include the largest participant Indian Farmers Fertilisers Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO), on Thursday introduced a steep selling price hike for important agri inputs di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) and other phosphatic fertilisers citing greater selling prices uncooked materials in the intercontinental markets. Charges of potash, DAP, phosphoric acid among some others have viewed a sizeable raise in the earlier couple of months, forcing the fertiliser makers to hike the selling prices of the de-controlled vitamins and minerals.

IFFCO experienced clarified that it will offer 11.26 lakh tonnes of sophisticated fertilisers with aged premiums to the farmers.

Sources in the fertiliser marketplace reported the governing administration has been confident that all aged shares will be offered at the aged selling price, but felt that the roll-over of the subsidy premiums underneath NBS from past yr would exert strain on close-solution selling prices as uncooked materials value have increased amidst a weakened rupee. For past economical yr, the governing administration experienced set the subsidy price for nitrogen (N) at ₹18.78 per kg, phosphate (P) at ₹14.88 per kg, potash (K) at ₹10.11 per kg and sulphur (S) at ₹2.37 per kg.

Sources also felt that the steep raise of forty-fifty per cent in retail selling prices may perhaps damage usage. Over-all fertiliser volumes experienced registered eight per cent progress through 2020-21 at over sixty six.four million tonnes (mt) from sixty one.five mt the previous yr. Urea volumes were being up 5 per cent at 35 mt through 2020-21 from 33.five mt the previous yr. DAP volumes were being up 2 per cent through the fiscal, although NPKS observed a progress of 17 per cent and muriate of potash (MoP) was up 19 per cent.