Centre awaiting report on direct transfer of fertiliser subsidy to farmers

A committee to look into the direct transfer of fertiliser subsidy to farmers has been set up by NITI Aayog and its report is awaited, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Rao Inderjit Singh said in Rajya Sabha on Friday. The idea is to provide a subsidy to farmers directly, he said during the Question Hour in the Upper House.

Replying to a query whether the procedure for Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) has been changed from disbursement of subsidy from receipt of fertilisers in the district to sale of fertilisers through the point of sale machines, the minister said the subsidy policy was conceived and implemented as a pilot project in 2016. He said that March 2018 onwards the first phase of the scheme was implemented pan-India through 2 lakh sale points while the second phase is likely to be launched after the committee report.

(With inputs from agencies.)