Parliament Question: Logistics for efficient fertilizer movement

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3553 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 24.03.2026 Logistics for efficient fertilizer movement 3553: SHRI I.S. INBADURAI: Will the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has undertaken measures to streamline logistics and supply chain management for timely movement of fertilizers across States, particularly during peak agricultural seasons, if so, the details thereof including coordination mechanisms; (b) whether any assessment has been conducted regarding regional imbalances in fertilizer availability leading to shortages or price variations during sowing seasons, if so, the findings thereof and the corrective steps taken; and (c) whether Government has received complaints regarding forced bundling of non- essential soil boosters or supplementary products with essential fertilizers at the retail level, if so, the details thereof and the action taken against such practices? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL) (a) & (b) Following steps are taken by the Government every season for ensuring timely and adequate availability of all 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 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. (vi) The gap between demand (requirement) and production for fertilizers is met through imports well in advance to ensure adequate and timely availability of fertilizers. (vi) The distribution of fertilizers within the State at district level is done by the concerned State government. In this regard, the availability of fertilizers i.e. Urea, DAP, MOP and NPKS has remained adequate across the States during the ongoing Rabi 2025-26 season. The information regarding requirement, availability and sales of these fertilizers, across the States, during the ongoing Rabi 2025-26 season is placed at Annexure. Further, under the Urea Subsidy Scheme, Urea 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 rates. 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 policy, the subsidy is provided to manufacturer/ importer on notified P&K fertilizers on its PoS sale during the season, depending on their nutrient content to ensure availability of fertilizers to farmers. The Government monitors international prices of key fertilizers and raw materials and fluctuations, if any, are subsumed while fixing NBS rates for P&K fertilizers annually / bi-annually to ensure affordable supply of P&K fertilizers to the 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. (c) In order to address the issue of over-pricing/tagging, fertilizers are declared as an essential commodity under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and notified underFertilizer Control Order, 1985. State Governments are empowered to take action against persons involved in such malpractices, as per provisions of EC Act. Any complaint received at Department of Fertilizers level regarding over-pricing/tagging of fertilizers is sent to concerned State Government to take appropriate action under Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and Fertilizer Control Order, 1985. Further, tagging/bundling of other products with fertilizers is not encouraged by Department of Fertilizers. Accordingly, suitable directions are issued to fertilizer companies directing them not to indulge in such practices and State Governments are also advised to take strict action as per extant rules to prevent such practice. *******Annexure Annexure referred to in reply to parts (a)& (b) of Rajya Sabha Unstarred Question no. 3553 for answering on 24.03.2026 STATE WISE REQUIREMENT, AVAILABILITY & SALES OF FERTILIZERS DURING THE RABI 2025-26 (Till 18.03.26) fig. in LMT UREA DAP MOP NPKS S.N State Require Availab- DBT Require Availab- DBT Require Availab- DBT Require Availab- DBT o ment ility Sales ment ility Sales ment ility Sales ment ility Sales 1 Andaman and Nicobar 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 Islands 2 Andhra Pradesh 8.93 11.24 9.14 2.16 3.74 2.82 0.94 1.33 0.89 9.21 12.35 8.80 3 Arunachal Pradesh 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4 Assam 1.55 2.53 2.04 0.27 0.65 0.43 0.35 0.48 0.24 0.33 0.34 0.20 5 Bihar 13.10 16.45 14.02 3.84 6.01 4.54 1.48 1.77 1.37 3.47 5.55 3.50 6 Chandigarh 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7 Chhattisgarh 2.85 4.56 2.30 0.99 2.06 1.05 0.48 0.61 0.12 0.58 2.06 0.35 8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 9 Daman and Diu 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 10 Delhi 0.14 0.14 0.11 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.02 0.00 0.00 11 Goa 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.01 12 Gujarat 13.35 15.29 13.22 2.80 3.37 2.75 0.62 0.74 0.53 4.37 5.58 3.70 13 Haryana 11.26 14.05 11.35 2.68 3.32 2.59 0.28 0.35 0.13 1.16 0.52 0.24 14 Himachal Pradesh 0.32 0.56 0.41 0.01 0.03 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.02 0.26 0.26 0.16 15 Jammu and kashmir 0.59 1.22 0.61 0.22 0.39 0.20 0.11 0.23 0.07 0.01 0.04 0.01 16 Jharkhand 1.14 1.70 1.22 0.25 0.63 0.45 0.02 0.04 0.02 0.29 0.49 0.23 17 Karnataka 7.09 10.03 6.84 1.87 4.00 2.20 0.91 1.60 0.88 6.74 12.86 7.02 18 Kerala 0.59 0.71 0.51 0.08 0.19 0.10 0.47 0.58 0.36 0.58 0.87 0.58 19 Lakshadweep 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 20 Madhya Pradesh 22.90 28.03 23.81 7.40 7.54 5.90 0.96 1.02 0.57 11.29 8.33 5.01 21 Maharashtra 10.64 15.72 10.71 2.47 4.83 2.48 1.41 1.69 0.88 11.45 22.48 10.13 22 Manipur 0.08 0.09 0.07 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 23 Meghalaya 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 24 Mizoram 0.00 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 25 Nagaland 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.01 0.00 0.00 26 Odisha 1.73 3.16 1.67 0.71 1.37 0.72 0.23 0.49 0.18 0.84 1.56 0.71 27 Puducherry 0.08 0.08 0.07 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.01 0.00 0.05 0.07 0.04 28 Punjab 14.58 18.73 14.59 4.46 5.68 4.15 0.56 0.67 0.28 1.48 0.99 0.61 29 Rajasthan 14.87 20.03 16.57 3.31 4.52 3.68 0.10 0.15 0.09 1.48 1.82 1.16 30 Sikkim 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 31 Tamil Nadu 6.17 7.35 6.01 1.49 2.11 1.52 1.72 1.36 1.01 4.91 6.78 4.57 32 Telangana 9.73 11.64 10.83 1.41 2.52 1.98 0.61 0.92 0.54 6.58 8.94 5.64 33 Tripura 0.09 0.12 0.07 0.01 0.03 0.01 0.03 0.03 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.02 34 Uttarakhand 0.96 1.28 0.99 0.14 0.41 0.24 0.05 0.06 0.02 0.19 0.12 0.08 35 Uttar Pradesh 39.16 50.06 38.96 13.90 17.56 12.11 1.43 2.15 1.22 7.40 10.87 6.22 36 West Bengal 7.85 11.85 8.14 1.91 3.07 2.24 2.11 2.42 1.41 6.71 10.45 6.68 All India 189.79 246.68 194.31 52.40 74.10 52.24 14.94 18.75 10.87 79.43 113.39 65.66