HP asks Centre ensure adequate supply of CAN fertilizers

Shimla, Aug 1 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Minister Raj Krishan Gaur today said the state has asked the Centre to ensure adequate and timely supply of CAN fertilizers for the current khariff season.

Speaking in the second meeting of Fertilizer Advisory Forum at New Delhi, he said the state was facing scarcity of CAN fertilizers as only 500 metric tonne has been supplied by the Gujrat National Fertilizer Company as against a demand of 5,000 metric tonne for current khariff season.

Mr Gaur said Himachal, which requires 10,000 metric tonne of fertilizers annually, was being supplied by Gujrat National Fertilizer Company only after the closure of National Fertilizer Limited, Nangal.

After the Gujrat National Fertilizer showed its inability in meeting the demand, the state requested the Centre to intervene and ensure that the timely supply of the CAN fertilizer was maintained, he said.

He said the policy of decontrolling phosphate and potassium fertilizers has resulted in steep increase in their prices compared to nitrogenous fertilizers and requested the Central Government to increase subsidy on these fertilizers to bring down their prices.

He also supported the central proposal for nutrient based pricing of fertilizers.

Mr Gaur said that the Centre has introduced Special Freight Reimburse Scheme under which Himachal was being provided Rs 283 per metric tonne as extra cost of transportation from rail head to consumption centre.

The Himachal Government was spending Rs two crore annually to meet the gap of extra cost of transportation from its own resources, he said.

He asked the Central Government to meet the actual cost of transportation from rail point to consumption centre.

Supporting the present policy of supply of urea fertilizers under Essential Commodity Act to special category hill States, which does not have urea manufacturing units, he also called for reviewing the distribution margin allowed on various fertilizers keeping in view of sharp increase of fertilizers prices.

He also called for enforcing uniform pricing structure for 100 per cent water soluble complex fertilizer under fertilizers control order 1985 and told that these are mostly imported fertilizers which were procured in bulk quantity and then repacked in small quantities.

UNI