Govt secures potassic, phosphatic fertilisers for kharif season: Mandaviya

New Delhi: Asserting that there will not be any shortage of key fertilisers during the upcoming kharif season, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said the government has secured in advance enough DAP supplies and has also entered into a long term pact with Jordan for import of potassic and phosphatic soil nutrients.

Last week, a long term pact was signed between Indian and Jordanian companies for an annual supply of 30 lakh tonnes of rock phosphate used in DAP making, 3 lakh tonnes of potash, 2.50 lakh tonnes of DAP and 1 lakh tonnes of phosphoric acid, for the next five years, he said.

With India securing 30 per cent Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) required for kharif season much in advance and companies told not to buy at higher rates from global market, the minister claimed there was correction in the international DAP prices which declined to USD 920 per tonne from USD 1,030 per tonne during last week.

"There is a global fertiliser crisis. India is the world's largest fertiliser importer and should get supplies at lesser rates... In many countries, fertilisers are rationed. We have not done (that). We made advance purchase of key fertilisers to ensure availability during the kharif season," Mandaviya told reporters here.

During last kharif season, there was only 18 lakh tonnes of DAP stock. But this year, the country is in a better position and has a DAP stock of 30 lakh tonnes against the requirement of 60 lakh tonnes for the kharif season.

Kharif season is from June to September.

A monthly supply of 6 lakh tonnes of DAP would come from domestic production and arrangement has also been made for supply of raw material 'rock phosphate' for production of DAP here, he said.

During a visit to Jordan last week, the minister said a long term agreement was signed between Jordan Phosphate Mining Company (JPMC) and Indian public cooperatives and private firms for supply of 30 lakh tonnes of rock phosphate, 2.5 lakh tonnes of DAP, 1 lakht tonnes of phosphoric acid for the next five years.

A long term pact was also signed between Indian Potash Ltd (IPL) and Arab Potash for annual supply of 2.75 lakh tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MoP) which will uniformly increase every year up to 3.25 lakh tonnes, he added.

"There won't be any shortage of DAP as we have ensured supplies in advance," he said.

Meanwhile, the government has identified rock phosphate reserves in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan and this will also help in increasing domestic production, he added.

In the case of urea and Muriate of Potash (MoP) too, the minister said the government has secured supplies in advance.

Against the requirement of 180 lakh tonnes of urea for this kharif season, about 140-150 lakh tonnes would come from the domestic production while the rest 30 lakh tonnes from imports.

"Already 15 lakh tonnes of urea has been imported. A long term agreement has been signed for supply of 5 lakh tonnes while rest 10 lakh tonnes will be easily arranged," he added.

Stating that there is no concern about MoP supplies, the minister said the country is fully dependent on imports for this fertiliser. Against the requirement of about 20 lakh tonnes of MoP for the kharif season, about 10 lakh tonnes is already with state governments.

The balance 10 lakh tonnes of MoP supplies has been arranged from Jordan, Israel and Canada by signing long term agreements with these countries, he said.

India has entered into a separate long term agreement for supply of 3 lakh tonnes of MoP from Jordan, 6 lakh tonnes from Israel and 12 lakh tonnes from Canada for the next five years.

Mandaviya said the government is also exploring a monthly domestic production of 1 lakh tonne of MoP from molasses.

He also said the government's fertiliser subsidy is likely to touch Rs 2-2.5 lakh crore in the current fiscal in view of high global prices.