Fertiliser production is likely to touch a new record at 25.5 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal owing to high capacity utilisation, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Anant Kumar said today.
The urea output had reached a record 24.5 MT last year. India imports 7-8 MT of urea to meet the local requirement of about 32 MT.
"We are continuously working on improving the efficiency. At present, all 30 urea plants -- public and private -- are operating at 120 per cent capacity. Therefore, urea production is likely to increase by 1 MT to 25.5 MT," Kumar said.
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The minister said the government has taken a landmark decision of rationalising freight subsidy to check blackmarketing of urea and ensure easy availability across the country.
"Earlier, in the name of freight, retailers and dealers used to charge more on every bag of urea. Now, on the basis of tariff commission, a more transparent and uniform freight tariff policy has been approved," Kumar said.
The policy, to be implemented retrospectively from 2008, will ease the movement of fertiliser in every corner of the country, he said, and added that the subsidy outgo for the same may rise to Rs 150 crore.
As per the policy, the government will reimburse the
freight rates for the direct road movement of fertilisers up to 500 km from plant/port to block level, as recommended by the Tariff Commission.
The decision has come into effect from today.
This move will ensure availability of urea in remote areas, while keeping the cost under control. It will be one of the major tool to maintain the demand and supply uniformly all over the country up to the block level and will benefit farmers during the peak demand season.
After this the fertiliser companies will not be allowed to do circuitous routing of fertilizers which will save subsidy and promote efficient transportation of fertilisers.