Published on December 9, 2014

On Thursday 4th December, 2014 an appeal to the Government of India by the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) was made in order to amend its policy with regards to fertiliser production that the state had resulted in loss of urea production. As per the statement released by FAI, a pricing policy for fertilizer that had proved to be beneficial during to green revolution in the year 1960 and 1970, have been repellent of fresh investment. However the existing industries are finding it difficult to survive. Moreover, the statement further stated that the present urea plants were not being permissible to manufacture to their full overhauled capacity, under the pricing policy of 2008.

Furthermore, to bring urea under nutrient-based subsidy to daunt surplus use of it and to decontrol the fertiliser sector, FAI has exhorted the government. It has also urged that the reforms process in the fertiliser sector should be taken to the fore on an urgent basis and is brought to the notice of the government that the import duty on raw materials should be subordinate in compare to the finished products. However as per the industry experts, the duty on most of the imported raw materials is noted same as that of the finished product in the fertilser sector.

The State and the Union governments has jointly planned to invest around Rs. 5500 crore on a fertilizer plant which has an annual production capacity of 13 lakh tons in North Karnataka. On 6th December, 2014 the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar had said that the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has approved to provide 10% equity from the State government as well as 500 acres of land for the plant, after the matter was conferred with him.