New Delhi : Union Cabinet has decided, the subsidy on Chemical Fertilizer is reduced by at least Rs 1 lakh crore. “In the next three years, the Modi government will be spending Rs 3 lakh 70 thousand crore for farmers’ welfare,” said Union Health Minister Mansukh Maandaviya at a press briefing after Cabinet meeting. As soon as this decision is taken, the responsibility of reducing the pressure on the exchequer will be put on the states.
BJP government is waiting to win the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, after lok Sabha election result Modi government will start ‘reducing Subsidy abhiyan’ randomly. The amount of subsidy will start reducing in a big way from everywhere, Finance Ministry and NITI Aayog have taken such a decision and its process has already started. Allocation of funds for many public projects has been reduced in this year’s budget. In the coming days, the fertilizer sector will be hit first by the subsidy cut.
It has been decided that states which reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and are more successful in using organic fertilizers will be given a share of the surplus subsidy for development. That is, in the coming days, the amount received from the center for the development of the state will increase only when the fertilizer subsidy can be reduced. Fertilizer subsidy will be limited to Rs 3 lakh crore in the next three financial years. Then gradually this subsidy will be given in minimum quantity, special plans have been taken to reduce the subsidy. The full name of the scheme called, Promotion of Alternate Nutrients for Agriculture Management Yojana (PRANAM), aims to promote balanced use of fertilisers along with bio-fertilisers.The names in the short, of these special schemes are “Pradhan Mantri Pranam Yojana” and “Market Development Assistance Scheme”. The Union Cabinet approved the “Pradhan Mantri Pranam Yojana” today. States will be asked to provide 50 per cent of the surplus subsidy if they reduce the use of chemical fertilizers in the last three years.
The scheme was announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the budget for 2023-24. The driving point behind the scheme is to cut down the subsidy burden on chemical fertilisers, which is estimated to reach Rs 2.25 lakh crore in 2022-23, much higher than the previous years. The cabinet decided to continue the Urea Subsidy scheme to ensure constant availability of urea to the farmers at the same price of Rs 242/45 kg bag for the next three years. Union minister Mandaviya also stated that eight nano urea plants with production capacity of 44 crore bottles (equal to 195 LMT) of conventional urea will be commissioned by 2025-26.
