The Government has taken several steps for making the country self-reliant in P&K fertilizers. These are as follows:

Based on examination of requests received, permission are granted to the fertilizer companies for increasing their manufacturing capacity which are under NBS and for induction of new P&K companies & their fertilizer products under NBS, with a view to boost manufacturing and make country self-reliant in fertilizer production.

Potash derived from Molasses (PDM) which is 100% indigenously manufactured fertilizer has been notified under Nutrient based subsidy (NBS) regime w.e.f 13.10.2021.

With regards to Urea, the Government had announced New Investment Policy (NIP) 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 the policy which includes 4 urea units set up through Joint Venture Companies (JVC) of nominated PSUs and 2 urea units set up by the private companies. The units set up through JVC are 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. The units set up by private companies are Panagarh urea unit of Matix Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (Matix) in West Bengal; and Gadepan-III urea unit of Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (CFCL) in Rajasthan. Each of these units has installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Tonne per annum (LMTPA). These units are highly energy efficient as they are based on latest technology. Therefore, these units have together added urea production capacity of 76.2 LMTPA thereby total indigenous urea production capacity(Reassessed Capacity, RAC) has increased from 207.54 LMTPA during 2014-15 to 283.74 LMTPA at present. Further, an exclusive policy for the revival of Talcher unit of FCIL through JVC of nominated PSUs namely Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL) by setting up a new Greenfield urea plant of 12.7 LMTPA at coal gasification route has also been approved. In addition, The Government also notified the New Urea Policy (NUP) – 2015 on 25th May, 2015 for the existing 25 gas-based urea units with one of the objectives of maximizing indigenous urea production beyond RAC. The NUP-2015 has led to additional production of urea by 20-25 LMTPA as compared to the production during 2014-15 annually. These steps together have facilitated increase of Urea production from level of 225 LMT per annum during 2014-15 to a record Urea Production at 314.09 LMT during 2023-24.

The Government is recommending soil test based balanced and integrated nutrient management through conjunctive use of both inorganic and organic sources (manure, bio-fertilizers etc.) of plant nutrients to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers preventing deterioration of soil health, environment and contamination of groundwater. In addition, split application and placement of fertilizers, use of slow releasing N-fertilizers and nitrification inhibitors, growing leguminous crops and use of Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) are also advocated. Indian Council of Agricultural Research imparts training, organizes front-line demonstrations and undertakes public campaigns to educate farmers on all these aspects. In order to promote use of organic sources of fertilizers, Government has developed several technologies and carried out technology dissemination activities. Several organic waste recycling and enrichment technologies have been developed. In order to enhance bio-fertilizer use, ICAR has developed improved and efficient strains of bio-fertilizers specific to different crops and soil types. Liquid Bio-fertilizer technology with higher shelf-life has also been developed. These are available for use by farmers and other stakeholders. The ICAR also imparts training to educate farmers and provide technical backstopping to Governmental schemes in this regard.

The Government has also approved Market Development Assistance @ ₹1,500/MT to promote organic fertilizers, produced at plants under umbrella Galvanizing Organic Bio-Agro Resources Dhan (GOBARdhan) initiative covering different Biogas/CBG support schemes/programmes of stakeholder Ministries/Departments such as Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme of Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas (MoP&NG), ‘Waste to Energy’ programme of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) of Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), etc. Also, for promotion of organic and bio-fertilizers, Government has requested all fertilizer marketing companies to arrange for mandatory off-take of Fermented Organic Manure (FOM) and other organic & bio-fertilizer with chemical fertilizer as a “Basket Approach” to ensure balanced and Integrated Nutrient Management for the Crops.

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Smt Anupriya Patel  in Lok Sabha in reply to a question today.

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MV/AKS