IFFCO has demanded inclusion of urea in the DBT scheme being considered actively by the govt and reported by the leading daily Economic Times.
Expressing his view IFFCO MD Dr U S Awasthi tweeted “ #IFFCO welcomes the move of DBT in #fertilisers but wants #urea to be a part of this scheme also.“
Earlier while offering pre-budget suggestions to the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Dr Awasthi had made a strong pitch for DBT in fertilizer- an issue he has been raising extensively in social media as well.
Explaining the blue-print of implementing DBT in fertilizer IFFCO Managing Director U S Awasti suggested the industry will upload the data of actual user of fertiliser on the fertiliser monitoring system platform for the next one year. He also promised to make available Jan Dhan and Aadhar account number.
The government is also expected to make use of the Jan-Dhan Yojana platform, which was started for easy and universal access to financial services, and its proposed initiative to recognise arrangements between cultivators and
owners to transfer these benefits. “Going forward, DBT will be mainstay of the subsidy plan.
ET reports a plan to directly transfer subsidy of phosphorous and potassium fertilisers on a pilot basis in 20 districts from next year has been discussed at the highest political level.
The proposal is included in a package for agricultural sector that is expected to include measures to strengthen farm-to-fork linkages and strengthen post harvest facilities.
The measure could be announced in the budget as part of the plan for farmers and steps for subsidy rationalisation. The government budgeted spending of Rs 22,500 crore on these fertilisers in FY16. Total fertiliser subsidy, bulk of which goes to urea, is pegged at Rs 73,000 crore.
