New Delhi: A Parliamentary Committee on Tuesday
asked the government to provide assistance to fertiliser
companies to help raise production.
"The Department of Fertilisers should make all out
efforts to extend all possible assistance ... with a view to
ensuring not only higher indigenous production of fertilisers
but also to reduce our dependence on imports," the Standing
Committee on Chemicals and Fertiliser said in a report
presented to the Lok Sabha.
The panel recommended technological innovation, optimum
energy consumption, manpower and capacity utilisation to help
increase production and reduce output cost.
The total subsidy disbursed on fertilisers has increased
to Rs 99,456 crore in 2008-09 from Rs 12,808 crore in 2001-02.
Only six per cent of the rise in subsidy bill is due to
higher consumption of fertilisers, while 94 per cent was due
to increase in international prices, the Committee said.
India is the third largest fertiliser producer in the
world.
However, the growth of the fertiliser industry has not
kept pace with the growing requirement due to absence of
potassic resources, paucity of raw materials and intermediates
in the phosphatic sector and energy deficiency in the
nitrogenous sector, it noted.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, December 08, 2009, 23:34