Lok Sabha Question No. 263 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-21
Subject: Urea Subsidy Scheme
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Raja Amareshwara Naik, Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo, Vinod Kumar Sonkar, Bhola Singh, Jayanta Kumar Roy, Sukanta Majumdar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS

## DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 263 TO BE ANSWERED ON :

21.07.2023

## Urea Subsidy Scheme

263:   SHRI RAJA AMARESHWARA NAIK:

SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA):

SHRIMATI SANGEETA KUMARI SINGH DEO:

SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

SHRI BHOLA SINGH:

DR. JAYANTA KUMAR ROY:

DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR:

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

- (a) whether the Government has approved continuation of Urea Subsidy Scheme to ensure constant availability of urea to the farmers in the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  proposed  to  introduce  the  Sulphur  Coated  Urea (Urea Gold) in the country for the first time, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has recently approved the Nutrient Based Subsidy for Rabi and Kharif seasons, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)   the other measures being taken by the Government for becoming self-reliant in fertilizers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE FOR CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS

## (SHRI BHAGWANTH KHUBA)

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(a): Yes,  Sir.  The  Cabinet  Committee  on  Economic  Affairs  (CCEA)  in  it's  meeting held on 28 th June, 2023 has approved the 'Continuation of the existing Urea Subsidy Scheme upto 31 st March, 2025 (FY 2022-23 to 2024-25) at a total estimated outlay of ₹ 3,68,676.70 crore (the actual expenditure may vary based on the prices of natural gas and  other  inputs  used  for  the  production  of  Urea)'.  Continuation  of  the  scheme  has ensured uninterrupted supply of subsidized urea to the farmers in the country.

(b): Yes, Sir. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in it's meeting held on 28 th June, 2023 has approved the launch of Sulphur Coated Urea with the name of 'Urea Gold'.

(c): Yes,  Sir.  The  Government  has  approved  the  revised  rates  for  Nutrient  Based Subsidy  Scheme for Rabi  2022-23  and fresh  rates  for  Kharif  2023.  Accordingly,  the subsidy rates are as under:

|   S.No. | Nutrients   |   Revised NBS rates for Rabi 2022-23 (Rs. Per Kg of Nutrient) (from 01.1.2023 to 31.3.2023) |   NBS rates for Kharif 2023 (Rs. Per kg of nutrient) (from 1.4.2023 to 30.9.2023) |
|---------|-------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | N           |                                                                                       99.27 |                                                                             76.49 |
|       2 | P           |                                                                                       49.94 |                                                                             41.03 |
|       3 | K           |                                                                                       25.7  |                                                                             15.91 |
|       4 | S           |                                                                                        2.84 |                                                                              2.8  |

(d): With  regard  to  urea  fertilizer,  the  Government  had  announced  New  Investment Policy (NIP) - 2012 on 2 nd January, 2013 and its amendment on 7 th October, 2014 to facilitate  fresh  investment  in  the  urea  sector  and  to  make  India  self-sufficient  in  the urea sector. Total 6 new urea units have been set up under NIP - 2012. These are Panagarh  urea  unit  of  Matix  Fertilizers  and  Chemicals  Ltd.  (Matix)  in  West  Bengal; Gadepan-III urea unit of Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (CFCL) in Rajasthan; Ramagundam  urea  unit  of  Ramagundam  Fertilizers  and  Chemicals  Ltd.(RFCL)  in Telangana;  and  3  urea  units  namely  Gorakhpur,  Sindri  and  Barauni  of  Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar respectively.  Each  of  these  units  has  the  installed  urea  production  capacity  of  12.7 Lakh Metric Tonne per annum. Therefore, these units have together added 76.2 LMT per  annum  in  the  existing  indigenous  urea  production  capacity  of  the  country.At present, there are 36 urea manufacturing units located across the country.

Further, an  exclusive  policy  has  been  notified  on  28 th April,  2021  for  the  revival  of Talcher unit of FCIL in Odisha by setting up a new greenfield urea plant of 12.7 LMT per annum through coal gasification route.

The Government has also notified New Urea Policy (NUP) - 2015 on 25 th May, 2015 with  one  of  the  objectives  of  maximizing  indigenous urea  production.  NUP-2015 has led  to  additional production of urea by 20-25 LMTPA as compared to the production during 2014-15.

Further, in respect of P&K fertilizers, permissions are granted from time to time to units  for  domestic  production  DAP/NPK  fertilizers  viz.  Madhya  Bharat  Agro  product Limited  Unit-II,  Banda  Sagar  and  M/s.  Krishna  PhoschemLtd,MP  for  production  of DAP/NPK  with  installed  capacity  2.40  LMT  per  annum  and  3.30LMT  per  annum respectively; Indigenously produced PDM or Potash Derived from Molasses (0-0-14.50)  has  been  included  under  NBS  scheme;  Freight  Subsidy  on  SSP  which  is  an indigenously  manufactured  fertilizers  has  been  made  applicable  since  Kharif   2022  ; Exploration for fertilizer minerals for phosphatic and potassic fertilizers , in consultation with  Ministry  of  Mines,  GSI,  MECL, FAGMIL and concerned State Governments is a continuous  process.  Further, JVs  and  Long  Term  Agreements/MoUs  for  supply  of fertilizers and raw materials are signed by Indian companies with the countries having their sufficient availability from time to time.

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