The policy will also be discussed by the department of fertilisers with a farmers' group on the same day. The government has invited the farmers' group to express its views on the policy so that their suggestions and concerns could be taken note of.

"We do not want to unduely delay the implementation of the policy. Our plan is to discuss the policy with all concerned as quickly as possible so that an appropriate decision can be taken soon," a ministry official said.

While announcing the draft policy last month in the Capital in a meeting organised by Ficci, chemicals and fertiliser minister Suresh Prabhu had said that a final decision on the long term fertiliser policy would be taken only after thorough discussions with all stake-holders including the industry, farmers, agricultural experts and the media.

While the department has already held two meetings with the industry, one each in Delhi and Mumbai, two more are slated this month-end.

Representatives of the fertiliser industry in Calcutta will get an opportunity to voice their opinion on the policy and point out the lacunae to the government in a meet being jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the department of fertiliser in the city on August 26.

The team from the fertiliser department will then fly to Chennai on August 28 to meet industry representatives from the Southern states.

The fertiliser department also plans to put the draft policy on the net so that any body who is interested could have an access to its contents.