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Union finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has welcomed the government move to hike the the subsidy on DAP fertiliser by 140 per cent. In a tweet she wrote , “Government is committed to the welfare of farmers and will take all efforts to ensure that farmers do not have to face the brunt of price-rise” said @PMOIndia @narendramodi
Government takes historic pro-farmer decision of hiking fertiliser subsidy.
“Government is committed to the welfare of farmers and will take all efforts to ensure that farmers do not have to face the brunt of price-rise” said @PMOIndia @narendramodi
Government takes historic pro-farmer decision of hiking fertiliser subsidy.https://t.co/m9OtLmrxxI
— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) May 19, 2021
Earlier i n a major pro-farmer decision, the Centre hiked the subsidy on DAP fertiliser by 140 per cent, costing the exchequer an additional Rs 14,775 crore, in a bid to ensure the soil nutrient is available to farmers at old rates despite a sharp rise in global prices.
The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a PMO statement.
“Government is committed to improving the lives of farmers. Therefore, despite increase in global prices, we have decided to make available the fertiliser at old rate,” Modi tweeted in Hindi.
After urea, Di-ammonium Phosphate (DAP) is the most widely used used fertiliser in the country.
“A historic decision was taken to increase the subsidy for DAP fertiliser from Rs 500 per bag to Rs 1200 per bag, which is an increase of 140 per cent. ….With today”s decision, farmers will continue to get a DAP bag for Rs 1200,” the Prime Minister”s Office (PMO) said.
Despite the rise in international market prices of DAP, it has been decided to continue selling it at the old price of Rs 1,200 per bag, it said.
“The central government has decided to bear all the burden of price hike. The amount of subsidy per bag has never been increased so much at once,” it added.
The government spends about Rs 80,000 crore on subsidies for chemical fertilisers every year. With the increase in subsidy for DAP, the government will spend an additional Rs 14,775 crore as subsidy in the Kharif season of this year, it said.
