Lok Sabha Question No. 848 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-29
Subject: Allocation of Funds under New Subsidy Schemes
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Dr. D. Purandeswari

848:

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 848 TO BE ANSWERED

ON:  29.11.2024

## Funds allocated under New Subsidy Schemes

SMT.  DAGGUBATI  PURANDESWARI:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) the total amount allocated and disbursed under the new subsidy schemes for chemical fertilizers in the last 5 years, State-wise details;
- (b) the number of farmers benefitted from subsidy schemes, categorized by small, medium, and large farmers particularly in Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) the  impact  of  subsidies  on  the  cost  of  production  for  farmers,  supported  by comparative data from previous periods; and
- (d) the  measures  taken  to  ensure  the  efficient  distribution  and  utilization  of subsidized fertilizers, along with any observed improvements in crop yields?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SMT.  ANUPRIYA PATEL)

- (a): The details of subsidy amount allocated and disbursed in the last five years is available and is as below:

| Year    |   Amount Allocated (Rs. in Crore) |   Amount Disbursed (Rs. in Crore) |
|---------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| 2019-20 |                           83467.9 |                           83467.9 |
| 2020-21 |                          138527   |                          131230   |
| 2021-22 |                          162072   |                          157640   |
| 2022-23 |                          254799   |                          254799   |
| 2023-24 |                          197457   |                          195421   |

(b): The Government provides subsidy to ensure adequate availability of fertilizers at affordable prices to the farmers. Under 'DBT in Fertilizers' system, 100% subsidy on various fertilizer grades is released to the fertilizer companies, on actual sales to the beneficiaries based on Aadhar authentication through POS devices installed at each retail shop. All farmers (including small, medium and large farmers) are being supplied fertilizers  at  the  subsidized rates on non-denial basis.The number of beneficiaries in Andhra Pradesh year wise is as under:

| Year    |   Buyer Count |
|---------|---------------|
| 2019-20 |       1156757 |
| 2020-21 |       1946250 |

| 2021-22                    |   2420757 |
|----------------------------|-----------|
| 2022-23                    |   2576865 |
| 2023-24                    |   2519432 |
| 2024-25 (as on 25.11.2024) |   1848703 |

(c): The  mandate  of  Department  of  Fertilizers  is  to  ensure  timely  availability  of fertilizers at affordable rates to the farming community. Accordingly, urea is provided to the farmers at a statutorily notified Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of Rs.242 per bag (exclusive of  charges towards neem coating and taxes as applicable) and the MRP has  remained  unchanged  since  01.03.2018  to  till  date.  The  difference  between  the delivered  cost  of  urea  at  farm  gate  and  net  market  realization  by  the  urea  units  is given  as  subsidy  to  the  urea  manufacture/importer  by  the  Government  of  India. Accordingly, all farmers are being supplied urea at the subsidized rates.

In case of Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers,  Government  has implemented Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Policy w.e.f. 1.4.2010. Under the policy, a fixed amount of subsidy, decided on annual/bi-annual basis, is provided to manufacturer  /  importer  on  subsidized  P&K  fertilizers  depending  on  their  nutrient content i.e. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K) and Sulphur (S) to improve availability  of  fertilizers  to  farmers.  The  Government  monitors  international  prices  of key  fertilizers  and  raw  materials  and  fluctuations,  if  any,  are  subsumed  while  fixing NBS rates for P&K fertilizers annually / bi-annually. Thus, the entire subsidy scheme is focused  towards  timely  availability  of  fertilizers  at  affordable  prices  to  farmers.  The data on total subsidy expenditure for the last 5 years is as under:

|   Sl.No. | Year    |   Total Subsidy Expenditure on P&K fertilizers (Rs. in Crore) |   Total Subsidy Expenditure on Urea (Rs. in Crore) |
|----------|---------|---------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | 2019-20 |                                                       26368.8 |                                              57099 |
|        2 | 2020-21 |                                                       37372.5 |                                              93857 |
|        3 | 2021-22 |                                                       52770   |                                             104870 |
|        4 | 2022-23 |                                                       86122   |                                             168677 |
|        5 | 2023-24 |                                                       65199.6 |                                             130221 |

(d): Before the commencement of each cropping season, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) assesses the State-wise & month-wise requirement of fertilizers. To fulfil this requirement of fertilizers in the States across the country, as per assessment done by DA&FW, Department of Fertilizers allocates adequate quantities of  fertilizers  to  States  by  issuing  monthly  supply  plans.  The  movement  of  all  major subsidized  fertilizers  is  monitored  through  web-based  monitoring  system  called integrated  Fertilizer  Monitoring  System  (iFMS).  Further,  during  the  peak  agricultural seasons,  Department  of  Fertilizers  regularly  takes  up  the  matter  with  Ministry  of Railways  to  provide  additional  rakes  for  ensuring  adequate  &  timely  availability  of fertilizers.

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