New Delhi, May 17
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a subsidy of Rs 38,000 crore for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers, taking the total outlay for fertiliser subsidies to Rs 1.08 lakh crore for the ongoing Kharif season in order to provide affordable soil nutrients to farmers.
The total amount includes Rs 70,000 crore earmarked for subsidy on urea in the 2023-24 Union Budget.
While announcing the Rs 38,000 crore subsidy, the government also said there will be no change in the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of fertilisers.
The Kharif season is from April-September.
The government’s subsidy burden on P&K fertlisers has come down for the ongoing Kharif season due to cooling down of global prices in the last few months.
For the entire 2023-24 fiscal, the fertiliser bill could reach up to Rs 2.25 lakh crore.
Briefing media, Fertiliser Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the Cabinet has approved Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for P&K fertilisers for the 2023-24 Kharif season.
The Cabinet has given it snod for a subsidy of Rs 76 per kg for for Nitrogen (N), Rs 41 per kg for Phosphorus (P), Rs 15 per kg for Potash (K) and Rs 2.8 per kg for Sulphur (S), he said.
According to the minister, the subsidy has been reduced as global prices of NPK have come down in the last three months.
For instance, Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) prices in the international market have reduced to USD 530 per tonne from a high of USD 925 per tonne, he added.
“A total of Rs 1.08 lakh crore will be spent on fertiliser subsidy for the Kharif season (April-September),” he said, and emphasised that there will be no change in the MRP of fertilisers.
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