Urea: Govt flags spike in urea use, but will bear subsidy burden | India News

NEW DELHI: Flagging a spike in urea and DAP (Di-ammonium Phosphate) consumption of 13 lakh and 10 lakh tonnes respectively during the current kharif crop season compared to last year, Union fertiliser secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra urged farmers and states to follow balanced use of the crop nutrients.
Speaking at the conference on rabi campaign, Mishra said that a record quantity of 1.8 crore tonnes of fertilisers has been used during the current kharif season. “The increase in urea consumption is more than 13 lakh tonnes. If you establish a modern and extremely efficient urea plant with Rs 10,000 crore, you may produce 10.5 lakh tonnes in a year. So, to meet this extra demand, (in a way) we have to set up a new plant,” he said.
Mishra said the DAP consumption is going to be 10 lakh tonnes more than last kharif season. He added that fertiliser is one of the nine crop inputs after water that influences production.

On the government’s assurance to make the fertilisers available adequately at the current rate, Mishra said the Centre is committed to provide fertilisers as required by the farming sector. “Come what may, the government will provide that,” he said, while adding that the Centre bore the subsidy burden of Rs 2.5 lakh crore in 2022-23. He added this year won’t be an exception.
He urged the states to do micro-monitoring of the distribution of fertilisers and to end regional disparity.