To ensure an uninterrupted supply of fertilizers during the kharif season Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananada Gowda held a meeting with the stakeholders which included IFFCO and Kribhco-the two major players who dominate the market.
Promising that the Govt will help the fertilizer industry to overcome the challenges of shortage of laborers, restrictions on import of skilled manpower and other issues, Gowda exhorted them to ensure adequate supply.
Speaking on the occasion Gowda said “I would like to thank all the industry captains present here for cooperating with the Government to contain the adverse impact of the corona pandemic. There has been no shortage of fertilizer, Gowda said, thanking them.
Rakesh Kapoor, Joint MD from IFFCO attended the meeting. However effort to find out participation from Kribhco could not succeed.
We expect a good monsoon season this year and this will lead to greater demand for fertilisers. We have to be ready for the same, said Gowda. He also informed that compared to last year, DBT sales of both urea and P & K fertilisers have been significantly higher in the months of April, May & June this year.
He, however, added that the requirement of urea during the kharif season is estimated at 170 Lakh MT while production may be around 133 Lakh MT. The difference will be made available through imports.
On the issue of fertilizers Subsidy Gowda said that the department was also quick in getting requisite approval for fixation of nutrient based subsidy for P & K fertilisers without which uncertainty about subsidy calculations would have prevailed. And this could have adversely impacted production.
He said, ”we are fully aware of the difficulty faced by fertilizer companies due to delay in payment of pending subsidy bills by the Department. We are working with the Ministry of Finance to resolve the issues”.