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About two months after the proposition of overhauling the fertiliser subsidy, the Government of India has recently established a Group of Ministers (GoM),headed by Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee. The GoM will provide suggestions on effective ways to adopt the new regime and provide subsidy directly to the farmers. The GoM will determine the time frame required to shift towards the new subsidy regime. The Fertiliser Ministry has put across this proposal to the top officials as well as the fertiliser industry from different states.
 As per the 2009–10 Budget, the subsidy would be granted directly to the farmers on fertiliser nutrients on a long-term basis. Currently, the pricing of almost all major fertilisers is controlled by the central government, which also provides subsidies to fertiliser companies. These subsidies are provided as compensation to these companies in lieu of retailing fertilisers at fixed rates determined by the government. In financial year 2008–09, the government had sanctioned Rs 1,17,000 crore as subsidies, which was previously Rs 45,659 crore in financial year 2007–08. |
