Import dependency for urea estimated to go up, could come down for P&K

Budget document for Fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) shows import dependency for urea is expected to go up while that for P&K fertiliser is expected to come down.

Meanwhile, the budget has also rationalised the schemes which have resulted in bringing down the number of Centrally Sponsored Schemes to 65 from 130 earlier.

Outcome Budget

Both Centrally Sponsored Schemes (where Centre and States share expenditure) and Central Sector Scheme ( where entire expenditure is borne by Centre are covered in the documents. . Such schemes include, PM Kisan, subsidy on food grains, PM Awaas Yojana, production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for various sectors, PM Fasal Bima Yojana and many others.

One such scheme is Urea Subsidy where the allocation is over ₹63,000 crore. Here, one of the outputs is total installed capacity of urea production which has been pegged at around 284 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) while total domestic production is expected to be over 290 LMT and total quantity of urea available at State level is estimated at 465 LMT.

Demand to go up

In terms of outcome, total sales pegged at 365 LMT as over 794 lakh farmers are expected to purchase urea. The import dependency is pegged at 37.62 per cent. Data from similar document of Fiscal Year 2021-22 mentioned import dependency of 26.39 per cent with total sales and number of farmers purchasing urea at 361.12 LMT and over 440 lakh respectively. This means demand is expected to go up during next fiscal while not much change is expected at domestic production front.

According to budget documents, Outlays, Outputs and Outcomes are being presented to the Parliament in measurable terms, bringing-in greater accountability for the agencies involved in the execution of government schemes and projects. Outlay is the amount that is provided for a given scheme or project in the Budget; while Output refers to the direct and measurable product of program activities, often expressed in physical terms or units. Outcomes are the collective results or qualitative improvements brought about in the delivery of these services.

Another scheme in the document is PM Kisan where eligible farmers get ₹6,000 as cash assistance in three instalments. For the current fiscal, the outlay is ₹68,000 crore. Under the output heading, over 12.67 crore farmers are to be enrolled while outcome says timely financial benefit to all eligible farmers.

Through the Output Outcome Framework, the government aims to nurture an open, accountable, proactive and purposeful style of governance by transitioning from mere outlays to result-oriented outputs and outcomes. This effort will enable ministries to keep track of the scheme objectives and work towards the development goals set by them.

In an effort to have better utilisation of resources, the Centre has revamped the entire Centrally Sponsored Scheme mechanism. “The aim is not just lowering the number of schemes, but to help States to focus on schemes which are more beneficial for them rather than distributing resources among all the schemes,” a top Finance Ministry official told BusinessLine.

For example, 10 schemes of Agriculture Ministry have been clubbed into three. Accordingly, schemes namely National Food Security Mission, National Mission on Horticulture, Information Technology and Integrated Scheme on Agriculture Census and Statistics besides other have subsumed into Krishionnati Yojana. Similarly five other schemes of Agriculture Ministry have been merged into one known as Rashtriye Krishi Vikas Yojana.