Parliament Question: Availability and Distribution of Fertilizers in Hingoli

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. *******