Revitalizing Fertiliser Sector: A Call for Strategic Reforms

The fertiliser industry urges policy reforms to enhance viability, including nutrient-based subsidies for urea and addressing GST issues. At the FAI annual seminar, challenges like high energy costs were highlighted. Key recommendations include stable subsidy mechanisms and promoting phosphogypsum usage for infrastructure projects.

The fertiliser industry is pushing for significant policy reforms, including extending nutrient-based subsidies to urea. At the Fertilizer Association of India's annual seminar, FAI Chairman S Shankarsubramanian highlighted escalating energy costs as a major challenge, particularly impacting older urea units.

The association called for transparent subsidy mechanisms and an immediate revision of fixed costs to attract investment. It also urged addressing the imbalance in nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium applications, which affects soil health and the fertiliser-to-grain response ratio.

Further recommendations include GST rate rationalisation for phosphogypsum and simplifying regulations to boost product innovation. Strategic partnerships with nations like Russia and Saudi Arabia have insulated the industry from supply chain disruptions, contributing to recent growth in urea and P&K capacities.