Natural gas price hike likely to push Centre's fertiliser subsidy bill

Industry insiders expect 10-15% increase in pooled gas prices in fertiliser sector

The Centre’s annual fertiliser subsidy bill is expected to rise as a result of the large increase in domestic gas prices announced by the government over the weekend.

Domestic prices of natural gas were raised by 40 per cent to record levels on Friday.

The decision, taken during the government’s biannual exercise of fixing the rates for the next six months, took effect on October 1. Industry insiders expect a 10-15 per cent increase in pooled gas prices for the fertiliser sector.

This is also expected to push up the cost of producing urea because gas prices account for 80-85