Lok Sabha Question No. 5741 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-27
Subject: Availability and Distribution of Fertilizers in Hingoli
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao

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

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5741 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 27.03.2026

## Availability and Distribution of Fertilizers in Hingoli

## 5741. Shri Aashtikar Patil Nagesh Bapurao:

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

- (a)  whether  the  Government  proposes  to  strengthen  fertilizer  distribution  through Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Samriddhi  Kendras  (PMKSKs),  cooperative  societies  and digital monitoring systems such as the DBT Fertilizer system to ensure transparency and prevent black marketing, if so, the details thereof;
- (b)  whether any assessment has been carried out by the Government regarding the requirement of additional fertilizers storage facilities, depots, and retail outlets in the said district, if so, the details thereof indicating their currently available operational capacity; and
- (c)  whether the Government proposes to establish additional fertilizer warehouses or strengthen  the  supply  chain  in  the  said  district  and  other  agrarian  districts  of Maharashtra to ensure timely availability of fertilizers to farmers, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) 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. In order to prevent diversion and thereby ensure affordable and uninterrupted fertilizer availability to farmers, Department of Fertilizers has put a ceiling of 50 bags of subsidized fertilizers per buyer per month i.e. 300 bags of subsidized fertilizers per season. Additionally, a monthly list of 'Top 20 buyers' of each district is made available in the iFMS log-in of respective district magistrates for taking necessary action at their end.

Besides, Department of Fertilizers has also developed a dashboard which can be accessed by authorized users at https://ur. 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 e-Urvarak Dashboard portals.

Department of Fertilizers  (DOF), vide notification dated 24th August, 2022, has decided to convert the existing village, block/sub district/taluk and district level fertilizer retail shops into Model Fertilizer Retail Shops, namely Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendra  (PMKSK). These  PMKSK  act  as  a  one-stop  -shop  for  farmers  for  multiple products such as seeds, fertilizers, pesticides etc. and also avail multiple services related to agriculture sector like fertilizer/seed/soil testing, drones & other farm equipments under one single roof. The conversion of existing retail shops into PMKSKs are being done by the fertilizer companies through the existing retailer margin of Rs 50 per MT being given by the Government of India.

Moreover, In order to address the issues such as black-marketing, hoarding and diversion, fertilizer is 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 sent to concerned State Government to take  appropriate  action  under  Essential  Commodities  Act,  1955  and  Fertilizer  Control Order, 1985. Accordingly, as informed by the State, no instance of black-marketing, has been reported in Hingoli district.

State Department of Agriculture as well as district officers continuously monitor the fertilizer movement, availability of quality fertilizer and to avoid non agriculture use of urea fertilizer through ifms system, fertilizer inspectors and flying squad in the Hingoli district as well as in the state. Currently there are 149 active PMKSKs in Hingoli district.

- (b) The  mandate  of  Department  of  Fertilizers  is  to  ensure  adequate  availability  of fertilizers at State level. However, the distribution of fertilizers within the State at district level is done by the concerned State government. Currently there is sufficient availability of fertilizer storages in Hingoli district at 25 Wholesalers and 750 retailers.
- (c) Following steps are taken by the Government every season for ensuring timely and  adequate  availability  of  all  fertilizers  in  the  country,  including  in  the  State  of Maharashtra:
- (i) Before the commencement  of each cropping season, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), in consultation with all the State Governments, assesses the State-wise & month-wise requirement of fertilizers.
- (ii) On the  basis  of  requirement  projected  by  DA&FW,  D/o  Fertilizers  allocates adequate quantities of fertilizers to States by issuing monthly supply plan and continuously monitors the availability.
- (iii) The movement of all major subsidized fertilizers is monitored throughout the country by an on-line web-based monitoring system called integrated Fertilizer Management System (iFMS).
- (iv) The State Governments are regularly advised to coordinate with manufacturers and  importers  for  streamlining  the  supplies  through  timely  placement  of indents.
- (v) Regular coordination meetings are  held  with  Ministry  of  Railways  for  giving sufficient  rakes,  priority  to  fertilizers  and  for  timely  evacuation  of  rakes  for States.

Government of Maharashtra informed that to meet out the demand of urea and DAP at peak period during kharif season 2026, buffer stocking of 1950 MT urea and 700 MT DAP  for  Hingoli  district  and  1.5  lakh  MT  of  urea  and  25000MT  of  DAP  buffer  for Maharashtra is planned.

Moreover, in order to ensure availability of Urea at affordable prices, under the Urea Subsidy Scheme, it is provided to the farmers at a statutorily notified Maximum Retail Price (MRP). The MRP of 45 kg bag of urea is Rs.242 per bag (exclusive of charges towards neem coating and taxes as applicable). 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 manufacturer/importer by the Government of India. Accordingly, all farmers are being supplied urea at the subsidized rate.

Besides, the Government has implemented Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme w.e.f.  01.04.2010  for  Phosphatic  and  Potassic  (P&K)  Fertilizers.  Under  NBS  Scheme, MRP of P&K fertilizers are decontrolled and companies are free to fix MRP as per their business dynamics at a  reasonable level which is  monitored  by  the  government. The subsidy is provided to manufacturer/imported on notified P&K fertilizers on its PoS sale during the season, depending on their nutrient content to ensure availability of fertilizers to  farmers.  Further,  to  ensure  affordability,  special  provisions  like  Rs.  3500 per  MT  to cover  'Other  Costs'  which  includes  costs  incurred  from  factory  gate  to  farm  gate, advantage / disadvantage due to increase / decrease in international prices, provision for GST component included in the MRP and provision for reasonable return @ 4% of net MRP (MRP-GST) have been extended to both imported and domestic DAP and imported TSP over and above NBS subsidy for Kharif 2025 and Rabi 2025-26 seasons.

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