Lok Sabha Question No. 4601 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-20
Subject: Impact of Primary Fertiliser Shortages
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Shri Pushpendra Saroj

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

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4601 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 20.03.2026

## Impact of Primary Fertiliser Shortages

## 4601. Shri Pushpendra Saroj:

Will the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers be pleased to state:

- (a) the number of cases relating to diversion, hoarding or black-marketing of subsidised fertilisers detected by Central agencies in the country including Uttar Pradesh since 2021;
- (b) the number of inspections conducted jointly with the Department of Fertilisers and the quantity of fertiliser seized in cases involving misuse of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) systems or point-of-sale  authentication  gaps  in  the  country,  State  and  district-wise, particularly for the said State;
- (c) the number of licences suspended or cancelled and prosecutions launched under the Essential Commodities Act or Fertiliser Control Order for such violations in the country, State and district-wise, particularly for the said State; and
- (d)  the  corrective  technological  and  enforcement  measures  introduced  by  the  Central Government to prevent leakages in subsidised fertiliser distribution and ensure lastmile accountability?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS

## ( SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL )

(a) to (c): In  order  to  address  the  issues  such  as  diversion,  hoarding  and  blackmarketing,  fertilizers  are  declared  as  an  essential  commodity  under  the  Essential Commodities  Act,  1955  and  notified  under  Fertilizer  Control  Order,  1985.  State Governments  are empowered  to take action against persons involved in said malpractices,  as  per  provisions  of  EC  Act.  Any  complaints  received  at  Department  of Fertilizers level regarding these malpractices is also sent to concerned State Government to take appropriate action under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and Fertilizer Control Order, 1985.

However, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) in consultation with the State Governments is regularly monitoring the enforcement action taken by State Governments  against  the  cases  of  Black  marketing,  Hoarding,  Sub-standard  and Diversion on weekly basis and regularly pursuing with the State Governments to strictly implement the enforcement action against the defaulters.

Accordingly, as per information received from the DA&FW, since April 2025, 4,60,840 raids have been conducted in the country with 16,160 show cause notices issued, 6,782 licenses  suspended/cancelled  and  817  FIRs  registered  against  defaulters.  In  Uttar Pradesh Since April 2025, 45,387 raids have been conducted with 2,985 show cause notices  issued,  3,302  licenses  suspended/cancelled  and  233  FIRs  registered  against defaulters. In addition, the State Government of Uttar Pradesh has informed about the district-wise  details  regarding  suspension or cancellation  of licenses and prosecutions launched under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 or the Fertilizer (Control) Order, 1985 for the time period 01.04.2025 to 16.03.2026 at Annexure .

Further, the Fertilizer Flying Squad (FFS), under the Department of Fertilizers, operates in collaboration with State/UT Governments to enforce the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), 1985, and  the  Fertilizer  (Movement  Control)  Order,  1973.  Fertilizers  are  classified  as essential commodities under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, empowering States to combat black marketing and hoarding through inspections and punitive actions.

Since April 2022 to 15.03.2026, the FFS has conducted a total of 749 inspections across various  categories,  including  Mixture  Manufacturer  Units,  Urea  Diversion  Units,  and Wholesale/Retail Fertilizer Shops, spanning 18 states/UTs.

This report details the inspections and actions across three main categories, covering the period up to till date.

(I) Inspections of Mixture Manufacturer Units:The FFS conducted 408 inspections across 11 States, details are as under;

| Sr. No.   | State          |   No. of Mixture Units inspected |
|-----------|----------------|----------------------------------|
| 1         | Andhra Pradesh |                               17 |
| 2         | Bihar          |                               11 |
| 3         | Gujarat        |                               68 |
| 4         | Karnataka      |                               58 |
| 5         | Kerala         |                               60 |
| 6         | Maharashtra    |                               66 |
| 7         | Tamil Nadu     |                              111 |
| 8         | Telangana      |                                3 |
| 9         | Uttarakhand    |                                2 |
| 10        | Uttar Pradesh  |                                4 |
| 11        | Madhya Pradesh |                                8 |
| Total     | Total          |                              408 |

(II) Inspections of Urea Diversion Units: The FFS performed 147 inspections across 12 states/UTs, focusing on non-agricultural uses of urea (e.g., plywood, resin, tableware, cattle feed, dyeing). These inspections resulted in 58 FIRs registered against violators.

| Sr. No.   | State         |   Inspections of Urea Diversion Units |   No. of FIR registered |
|-----------|---------------|---------------------------------------|-------------------------|
| 1         | Gujarat       |                                    43 |                      25 |
| 2         | Haryana       |                                    32 |                      15 |
| 3         | Karnataka     |                                     6 |                       2 |
| 4         | Kerala        |                                    19 |                       3 |
| 5         | Rajasthan     |                                    16 |                       2 |
| 6         | Telangana     |                                     2 |                       0 |
| 7         | Uttar Pradesh |                                    12 |                       3 |
| 8         | Punjab        |                                     2 |                       0 |
| 9         | Bihar         |                                     3 |                       3 |
| 10        | Delhi         |                                     5 |                       3 |
| 11        | Tamil Nadu    |                                     1 |                       1 |
| 12        | Maharashtra   |                                     6 |                       1 |
| Total     | Total         |                                   147 |                      58 |

(III) Inspections of Wholesale/Retail Fertilizer Shops: A total of 194 inspections were carried  out  across  5  states,  with  130  action  recommendations  issued  to  address irregularities in distribution and sales.

| Sr. No.   | State          |   Inspections of wholesale/Retail shop of Fertilizers |
|-----------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
| 1         | Bihar          |                                                    92 |
| 2         | Haryana        |                                                    14 |
| 3         | Uttar Pradesh  |                                                    19 |
| 4         | Punjab         |                                                    40 |
| 5         | Madhya Pradesh |                                                    29 |
|           | Total          |                                                   194 |

(d) The Integrated Fertilizer Management System (iFMS) was launched in June 2016 which is a comprehensive, all-integrated system covering all functionalities in the fertilizer supply chain. This comprehensive system covers the entire supply chain, meticulously capturing transactional data  from raw  material  procurement,  imports to fertilizer production and transportation via rail or road from plants, rake houses, ports to district warehouses, and finally sale at PoS enabled retailers, everything aligned with monthly supply plans at district level and the movement of fertilizers is being captured in real time. The  iFMS  has  also  been  developed  to  ensure  capture  and  maintain  the  fertilizers movement and sale data accurately in a secured manner.

Besides,  Department  of  Fertilizers  has  also  developed  a  dashboard  which  can  be accessed by authorized users. The dashboard is developed to facilitate easy monitoring by various Stake holders viz. State Agriculture Departments, District Collectors and State Marketing Federations. The State Governments are also monitoring the availability and supply of fertilizers through iFMS and eUrvarak Dashboard portals.

*******

| Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   | Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a) to (c) of LS UNSQ No. 4601 for answering on 20.03.2026   |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report in District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report  | District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report in District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report  | District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report in District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report  | District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report in District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report  | District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report in District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report  | Financial Year 2025-26 (01.04.2025 to 16.03.2026) District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report   | Financial Year 2025-26 (01.04.2025 to 16.03.2026) District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report   | Financial Year 2025-26 (01.04.2025 to 16.03.2026) District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report   | Financial Year 2025-26 (01.04.2025 to 16.03.2026) District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report   | Financial Year 2025-26 (01.04.2025 to 16.03.2026) District Wise Suspended, Cancelled & FIR Report   |
| S.No                                                                                                | District Name                                                                                       | License Suspended                                                                                   | License Cancelled                                                                                   | FIR                                                                                                 |                                                                                                     | S.No District Name                                                                                  | License Suspended                                                                                   | License Cancelled                                                                                   | FIR                                                                                                 |
| 1                                                                                                   | Saharanpur                                                                                          | 4                                                                                                   | 9                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 37 Jhansi                                                                                           | 8                                                                                                   | 6                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 2                                                                                                   | Muzaffarnagar                                                                                       | 4                                                                                                   | 10                                                                                                  | 4                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 38 Lalitpur                                                                                         | 20                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |
| 3                                                                                                   | Shamli                                                                                              | 0                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   | 5                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 39 Jalaun                                                                                           | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 7                                                                                                   |
| 4                                                                                                   | Meerut                                                                                              | 26                                                                                                  | 11                                                                                                  | 6                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 40                                                                                                  | Hamirpur 14                                                                                         | 6                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |
| 5                                                                                                   | Ghaziabad                                                                                           | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 41                                                                                                  | Mahoba 3                                                                                            | 3                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |
| 6                                                                                                   | Baghpat                                                                                             | 32                                                                                                  | 4                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 42                                                                                                  | To tie 0                                                                                            | 4                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   |
| 7                                                                                                   | Gautam Buddh                                                                                        | 4                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 43 Chitrakoot                                                                                       | 3                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 8                                                                                                   | Bulandshahr                                                                                         | 3                                                                                                   | 6                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 44                                                                                                  | Varanasi 19                                                                                         | 10                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |
| 9                                                                                                   | Hapur                                                                                               | 2                                                                                                   | 7                                                                                                   | 5                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 45                                                                                                  | Chandauli 0                                                                                         | 6                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 10                                                                                                  | Aligarh                                                                                             | 21                                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 46                                                                                                  | Ghazipur 5                                                                                          | 2                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 11                                                                                                  | Kasganj                                                                                             | 84                                                                                                  | 33                                                                                                  | 14                                                                                                  |                                                                                                     | 47                                                                                                  | Jaunpur 15                                                                                          | 2                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |
| 12                                                                                                  | Hathras                                                                                             | 2                                                                                                   | 5                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 48                                                                                                  | Mirzapur 26                                                                                         | 5                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   |
| 13                                                                                                  | Etah                                                                                                | 0                                                                                                   | 25                                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 49 Bhadohi                                                                                          | 6                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 14                                                                                                  | Agra                                                                                                | 2                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   | 6                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 50                                                                                                  | Sonbhadra 5                                                                                         | 3                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   |
| 15                                                                                                  | Mainpuri                                                                                            | 152                                                                                                 | 46                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 51 Azamgarh                                                                                         | 9                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |
| 16                                                                                                  | Mathura                                                                                             | 0                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 52 Mau                                                                                              | 1                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 17                                                                                                  | Firozabad                                                                                           | 6                                                                                                   | 21                                                                                                  | 3                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 53 Baliya                                                                                           | 11                                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |
| 18                                                                                                  | Bareilly                                                                                            | 33                                                                                                  | 23                                                                                                  | 3                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 54 Gorakhpur                                                                                        | 42                                                                                                  | 12                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   |
| 19                                                                                                  | Badaun                                                                                              | 11                                                                                                  | 20                                                                                                  | 3                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 55 Maharajganj                                                                                      | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 12                                                                                                  |
| 20                                                                                                  | Shahjahanpur                                                                                        | 58                                                                                                  | 4                                                                                                   | 4                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 56 Deoria                                                                                           | 0                                                                                                   | 7                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |
| 21                                                                                                  | Pilibhit                                                                                            | 45                                                                                                  | 20                                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 57 Kushinagar                                                                                       | 29                                                                                                  | 10                                                                                                  | 3                                                                                                   |
| 22                                                                                                  | Bijnor                                                                                              | 29                                                                                                  | 3                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 58 settlement                                                                                       | 32                                                                                                  | 7                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |
| 23                                                                                                  | Moradabad                                                                                           | 0                                                                                                   | 14                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 59 Sant Kabir                                                                                       | N 44                                                                                                | 8                                                                                                   | 4                                                                                                   |
| 24                                                                                                  | Amroha                                                                                              | 16                                                                                                  | 10                                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 60 Siddharthna gar                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   | 28                                                                                                  | 30                                                                                                  |
| 25                                                                                                  | Rampur                                                                                              | 0                                                                                                   | 8                                                                                                   | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 61                                                                                                  | Gonda 38                                                                                            | 13                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   |
| 26                                                                                                  | Sambhal                                                                                             | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 62 Bahraich                                                                                         | 26                                                                                                  | 20                                                                                                  | 4                                                                                                   |
| 27                                                                                                  | Farrukhabad                                                                                         | 22                                                                                                  | 7                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 63 Balrampur                                                                                        | 12                                                                                                  | 32                                                                                                  | 6                                                                                                   |
| 28                                                                                                  | Kannauj                                                                                             | 9                                                                                                   | 16                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 64 Sravasti                                                                                         | 15                                                                                                  | 5                                                                                                   | 4                                                                                                   |
| 29                                                                                                  | Etawah                                                                                              | 9                                                                                                   | 5                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 65 Unnao                                                                                            | 4                                                                                                   | 4                                                                                                   | 3                                                                                                   |
| 30                                                                                                  | Auraiya                                                                                             | 20                                                                                                  | 24                                                                                                  | 8                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 66 Lucknow                                                                                          | 0                                                                                                   | 16                                                                                                  | 8                                                                                                   |
| 31                                                                                                  | Kanpur city                                                                                         | 38                                                                                                  | 15                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 67 Raebareli                                                                                        | 3 33                                                                                                | 66 19                                                                                               | 7 7                                                                                                 |
| 32                                                                                                  | Kanpur Dehat                                                                                        | 36                                                                                                  | 5                                                                                                   | 6                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 68 Sitapur                                                                                          |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |
| 33                                                                                                  | Prayagraj                                                                                           | 0                                                                                                   | 5                                                                                                   | 4                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 69 Hardoi                                                                                           | 16                                                                                                  | 68                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   |
| 34                                                                                                  | Kaushambi                                                                                           | 0                                                                                                   | 2                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 70 Lakhimpur Kheri                                                                                  | 50                                                                                                  | 32                                                                                                  | 7                                                                                                   |
| 35                                                                                                  | Fatehpur                                                                                            | 26                                                                                                  | 14                                                                                                  | 1                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 71 Ayodhya                                                                                          | 4                                                                                                   | 4                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |
| 36                                                                                                  | Pratapgarh                                                                                          | 2                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   | 0                                                                                                   |                                                                                                     | 72 Ambedkar                                                                                         | Na 0                                                                                                | 21                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   |
|                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     | 73 Sultanpur                                                                                        | 19                                                                                                  | 13                                                                                                  | 0                                                                                                   |
|                                                                                                     | Total                                                                                               | 696                                                                                                 | 382                                                                                                 | 95                                                                                                  |                                                                                                     | 74 Amethi                                                                                           | 2                                                                                                   | 13                                                                                                  |                                                                                                     |
|                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     | 13                                                                                                  | 13                                                                                                  | 2                                                                                                   |
|                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     | 75 Barabanki                                                                                        | 75 Barabanki                                                                                        |                                                                                                     | 7                                                                                                   |
|                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     | TOTAL 527                                                                                           | TOTAL 527                                                                                           | 10 83                                                                                               | 142                                                                                                 |
|                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     |                                                                                                     | G Total (UP) 1223                                                                                   | G Total (UP) 1223                                                                                   | 14                                                                                                  | 237                                                                                                 |

****