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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4790 TO BE ANSWERED ON: 20.03.2026
Shortage of Fertilizers in Hingoli
4790: SHRI AASHTIKAR PATIL NAGESH BAPURAO:
Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that farmers are facing recurrent shortages of
essential fertilizers such as urea, DAP and complex fertilizers during critical sowing and
cropping seasons, adversely affecting agricultural productivity in the Hingoli district of
Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether instances of black-marketing, overpricing and uneven distribution through
cooperative societies and private dealers have been reported in the said district, if so, the
details thereof;
(c) the details of fertilizer allocation made to the said district during the last three years,
crop-season-wise and product-wise;
(d) whether any monitoring mechanisms, digital tracking systems or real-time stock
audits are in place to ensure transparent, timely and equitable distribution; and
(e) if so, the details thereof along with the corrective steps taken/proposed to be taken
to strengthen supply chains, prevent diversion and ensure affordable and uninterrupted
fertilizer availability to farmers in the said district?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS
(SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)
(a) to (e) 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.-2-
(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.
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.
Further, the mandate of D/o 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.-3-
In this regard, the State government of Maharashtra has informed that the availability of
fertilizers in Hingoli district of Maharashtra has remained adequate during the ongoing
Rabi 2025-26 season. The information regarding allocation made, availability and closing
stock of fertilizers, as informed by the State is as under:
FERTILIZER AVAILABILITY POSITION IN HINGOLI DISTRICT DURING RABI 2025-26
SESAON FROM 01.10.2025 TO 16.03.2026
(Fig in MT)
Closing Stock as on
Sr. No. Grade Sanctioned Allocation Total Availability
16.3.2026
1 Urea 17000 22791 8504
2 DAP 6250 8594 4262
3 NPKs 19500 38683 21572
Total 42750 70068 34338
Besides, as informed by the State, information regarding fertilizer allocation and supply in
the said district during FYs 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 is as under:
Season-wise Fertilizer Allocation in Hingoli District (Fig in MT)
FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25 FY 2025-26
Sr No District Grade
Kharif Rabi Kharif Rabi Kharif Rabi
1 UREA 16150 12270 16200 12260 19885 17000
2 Hingoli DAP 12940 5850 15800 5736 12964 6250
3 NPKs 28720 16980 34000 18515 37000 19500
Season-wise Fertilizer Supply in Hingoli District (Fig in MT)
FY 2025-26
FY 2023-24 FY 2024-25
(as on 17.03.2026)
Sr No District Grade
Kharif Rabi Kharif Rabi Kharif Rabi
1 UREA 14431 17753 19662 11770 14388 18066
2 Hingoli DAP 15198 3232 8259 3798 8241 4905
NPKs
3 27375 17684 29466 16227 33398 24656
(Complex)
Net availability = Supply made + opening stock at the start of each season.
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.-4-
Furthermore, the Integrated Fertilizer Management System (iFMS) 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. Various
modules under iFMS have been developed to ensure capture and maintain the fertilizers
movement and sale data accurately in a secured manner. 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. 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.
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