Parliament Question: Pricing and subsidy adequacy for farmers

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1944 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 10.03.2026 Pricing and Subsidy adequacy for farmers 1944 SHRI SATNAM SINGH SANDHU: Will the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has assessed fertilizer availability, pricing and subsidy adequacy for farmers during recent cropping seasons; (b) the steps taken to prevent shortages, black marketing and regional imbalances; and (c) whether any long-term reforms are being considered to ensure balanced nutrient use and reduce farmers’ input costs? 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 distribution of fertilizers within the State at district level is done by the concerned State government. Accordingly, the information regarding requirement, availability, sales and closing stock of fertilizers viz. Urea, DAP, MOP and NPKS during the ongoing Rabi 2025-26 season as on 05.03.2026 is as under: ALL INDIA FERTILIZER POSITION FOR RABI 2025-26 (TILL 05/03/26) FIG. IN LMT Pro rata Availability Sales From S. Requirement for Requirement From Stock as on Product 01/10/25 to No. RABI 2025-26 From 01/10/25 01/10/25 to 05/03/26 05/03/26 to 05/03/26 05/03/26 1 UREA 196.06 183.51 235.34 186.33 49.01 2 DAP 53.43 51.38 71.89 50.28 21.61 3 MOP 15.69 14.18 18.18 10.18 8.00 4 NPKS 82.38 76.48 108.41 62.90 45.51 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 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. While recommending NBS rates relevant factors like requirement of nutrients in the country, balanced use of fertilizers, subsidy burden. MRP of fertilizers etc. are considered and the volatility/fluctuations in international prices of key fertilizers and raw materials are also subsumed to make these fertilizers affordable for farmers. Furthermore, in order to address the issues such as black-marketing, hoarding and diversion, fertilizers are declared as an essential commodity under the EssentialCommodities 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. Any violation of the provision of the Fertilizer (Control) Order invokes both administrative action such as Cancellation & Suspension of Authorization letter and Penal action under the Essential Commodities Act of punishment for a period of three months to seven years. Further, the DA&FW in consultation with the State Governments is regularly monitoring the enforcement action taken by them against the cases of Black marketing, Hoarding, Sub-standard and Diversion on weekly basis. In the Country, Since April 2025, 4,53,691 raids have been conducted with 16,049 show cause notices issued, 6770 licenses suspended/cancelled and 816 FIRs registered against defaulters. (c) The Government of India is promoting the judicious and balanced use of fertilisers through the Soil Health & Fertility Scheme, which has been under implementation since 2014–15. The core objective of the scheme is to provide Soil Health Cards (SHCs) to all farm holdings in the country in order to promote balanced and integrated nutrient management (INM) for improving soil fertility, crop productivity, and sustainability of agriculture. Under the scheme, soil samples are collected and analysed as per standard scientific procedures for key soil health parameters including pH, Electrical Conductivity, Organic Carbon, available Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, and important micronutrients such as Zinc, Copper, Iron, Manganese and Boron. Diagnostic soil health assessment of farmers’ fields is undertaken periodically, and Soil Health Cards are issued at least once in three years, providing crop-wise and soil-specific fertiliser recommendations. Since 2014–15, more than 25.68 crore Soil Health Cards have been generated and distributed across the country. Further, under Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme for Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers, an additional subsidy of Rs. 500/MT and Rs. 300/MT is being provided for fortification of any notified P&K fertilizers with Zinc micro-nutrient & Boron micro-nutrient respectively to promote balanced nutrient use. *******