NEW DELHI, Nov 11: Government has no plans to raise urea prices and will make the country self-reliant on the widely-used soil nutrient, Fertilizer Minister Ananth Kumar said today.
Kumar was speaking while welcoming the Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, who assumed charge as Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers.
“There are no plans to increase urea prices and will keep on working to raise its domestic production to substitute the imports,” he said.
The two said that they will work as ‘Team Modi’ to achieve the goals set by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ahir, who is MP from the Chandrapur Constituency in Maharashtra, said that “it is the priority of the present government to make fertiliser and medicines available to the poor at a cheaper price”.
Urea is provided to farmers at a fixed subsidised maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 5,360 per tonne. The difference between the cost of production and MRP of urea is provided as subsidy to manufacturers.
In the last one decade, urea prices have been raised only once by Rs 50 per tonne, while no new capacity has come up.
The ministry is working on reviving the five closed plants of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) and Hindustan Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (HFCL).
India’s urea production is stagnant at 22 million tonnes, whereas the demand is about 30 million tonnes which is met through imports. (PTI)
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