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The distorted pricing policy, leading to indiscriminate use of the highly subsidised urea, is hitting agro-productivity while subsidies and regulation are hurting the industry, the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) has said.
In Pune, as part of a nation-wide tour to bring the woes of the industry to the fore, the FAI is pitching for for total de-control of the sector and for nutrient-based subsidies instead of the current complex subsidy structure for India’s 30-odd urea manufacturers.
“Half the fertiliser industry is sick and the distorted pricing policy has led to overuse of urea by farmers causing imbalances in the soil,” Satish Chander, director general, FAI said.
The ₹80,000-90,000-crore subsidy burden to the Government last year was not money well-spent, he asserted. There were delays in receiving subsidyand nearly ₹35,000 crore was outstanding, some of it pending from 2008.
India consumed 51.5 mt of fertiliser last year including 30.45 mt of urea, making it the second largest consumer of fertiliser in the world after China.
But the sector has seen no fresh investment in the last several years because of the policy. Also, productivity stood half of that in China, Sharad Nandurdikar, chairman, FAI pointed out.To give a boost to the sector, the FAI is pitching for subsidising farmers rather than the industry, framing of a clear long-term policy and availability of gas on a priority basis.
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