Parliament Question: Black Marketing of Fertilizers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2275TO BE ANSWERED ON: 01.08.2025 Black Marketing of Fertilizers 2275: SHRI ABHAY KUMAR SINHA:

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

(a) whether the Government is aware that the black-marketing and artificial shortage of fertilizers are raising problems for farmers in Bihar, particularly in Saharsa, Gaya and Aurangabad districts;

(b) if so, the remedial actions and monitoring measures taken by the Government so far in this regard;

(c) the details of stock of Urea, DAP and other major fertilizers available in Bihar at present, district-wise;

(d) the details of funds sanctioned and disbursed to State Government of Bihar for fertilizers by the Union Government for the financial year 2025-26 so far; and

(e) the concrete steps taken by the Government to prevent black-marketing or ensure availability of fertilizers in ensuing Rabi and Kharif season? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a) & (b) As per information received from the State Government of Bihar, no such case has been reported in Saharsa, Gaya and Aurangabad districts of State.

(c) The mandate of Department of Fertilizers is to ensure adequate availability of fertilizers at State level. However, distribution of fertilizers within the State at district level is done by the State governments. Accordingly, the information received from the State Government of Bihar regarding district-wise stock of Urea, DAP, NPKS and MoPin the State is placedat Annexure.

(d) Under 'DBT in Fertilizers' system, 100% subsidy on various fertilizer grades is released to the fertilizer manufacturing/ importing companies, on actual sales to-2- the beneficiaries based on Aadhar authentication through POS devices installed at each retail shop, and not to State Governments. Therefore, no funds are sanctioned or disbursed specifically to the State Government of Bihar.

(e) Fertilizer is declared as an essential commodity and is notified under Fertilizer Control Order, 1985 and Fertilizer (Movement Control) Order, 1973. State Governments are adequately empowered under FCO to stop black marketing of fertilizers and to take punitive action against any person / fertilizer company involved in black marketing of fertilizers by violating the provisions of Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and Fertilizer Control Order 1985 (FCO). Accordingly, as per information received from the State Government of Bihar,steps taken to prevent black-marketing

of fertilizers is as below:

(i) Raids have been organized at district level. Till date 19 FIR has been lodged and 157 licenses has been cancelled in Kharif, 20225(till 30.07.25).

(ii) Physical verification of fertilizer stock as per PoS and fertilizer available in godown has been done regularly to check any kind of malpractice.

(iii) Top-20 Urea buyer verification is done on regular basis.

(iv) Rake officers are designated for each rake point. All necessary verifications are done by them to ensure proper movement of fertilizer from the rake point within district.

(v) Department has developed online inspection app for regular monitoring of dealers against black-marketing, hoarding and smuggling of fertilizer.

(vi) Special inspecting team has been formed on regular basis for regular monitoring against black-marketing, hoarding and smuggling of fertilizer.

(vii) District level fertilizer committee has been formed under chairmanship of district magistrate to monitor fertilizer availability, uniform distribution of fertilizer.

Further, following steps are taken by the Government before every cropping season

for ensuring timely and adequate availability of fertilizers in the country: 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, 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 Monitoring System (iFMS);-3- iv. Regular Weekly Video Conference is conducted jointly by DA&FW and D/o Fertilizers with State Agriculture Officials and corrective actions are taken to dispatch fertilizers as indicated by the State Governments.

*******ANNEXURE Annexure referred to in reply to part (c) of Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2275 to be answered on 01.08.2025 Fertilizers Stock Position in Bihar As On 30.07.25 At District Level (Fig. in MTs) S.No. District Urea DAP NPKS MOP 1 Araria 6,336 2,888 6,065 2,409 2 Arwal 3,529 413 1,580 104 3 Aurangabad 13,227 906 5,879 1,161 4 Banka 7,114 1,456 3,546 654 5 Begusarai 11,841 6,214 6,993 3,492 6 Bhagalpur 10,805 3,675 8,863 1,203 7 Bhojpur 19,327 2,888 11,552 1,449 8 Buxar 12,686 2,074 8,605 544 9 Darbhanga 13,397 2,364 3,316 1,102 10 Gaya 16,901 3,943 9,235 1,012 11 Gopalganj 5,586 1,044 1,832 486 12 Jamui 4,993 1,713 1,829 84 13 Jehanabad 5,724 1,012 3,619 265 14 Kaimur (Bhabua) 7,115 690 2,812 368 15 Katihar 5,300 2,931 7,850 1,511 16 Khagaria 13,491 6,634 7,204 3,561 17 Kishanganj 4,628 1,662 3,926 614 18 Lakhisarai 4,508 1,621 972 186 19 Madhepura 7,033 4,551 8,443 2,008 20 Madhubani 13,521 2,887 3,073 1,265 21 Munger 5,238 1,769 640 165 22 Muzaffarpur 16,877 4,352 9,767 4,239 23 Nalanda 13,969 2,125 10,367 631 24 Nawada 6,756 1,036 2,481 88 Pashchim 25 1,062 3,296 4,295 3,151 Champaran 26 Patna 14,680 2,510 8,637 832 27 Purbi Champaran 8,900 3,463 6,630 3,567 28 Purnia 8,384 7,750 21,196 6,387 29 Rohtas 13,391 2,708 8,275 1,167 30 Saharsa 3,890 3,113 4,189 1,958 31 Samastipur 14,099 3,747 5,587 2,604 32 Saran 11,591 1,716 4,897 1,002 33 Sheikhpura 4,299 628 1,508 53 34 Sheohar 1,807 120 354 192 35 Sitamarhi 11,246 2,064 6,440 2,129 36 Siwan 12,729 2,290 3,302 765 37 Supaul 4,281 2,474 5,280 1,754 38 Vaishali 10,664 5,031 11,049 6,336 Total 3,50,923 1,01,756 2,22,088 60,498