Revise costs before fixing new fert pricing period: Ficci

Our Corporate Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 1: Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry has, in a letter to finance minister Yashwant Sinha, proposed that all costs be properly updated in line with current costs while fixing the seventh pricing period for the fertiliser industry, as this was particularly relevant in respect of issues like norms for capacity utilisation, energy intake, consumption of net assets, and determination of working capital.

The chamber has said unrealistic tightening of these norms and adoption of unrealistic norms would make the industry unviable and lead to closure of substantial capacity.

Various ministries are keen that fertiliser pricing mechanism must shift from individual pricing to group pricing and the administrative ministry has also agreed that they would review Expenditure Reforms Commission recommendations and modify them to make them fair and equitable. Ficci has suggested that these changes needed to be implemented within the current financial year.

The chamber has also asked that the seventh pricing norms needed to be extended up to March 31, and the revised expenditure reforms commission recommedations be implemented with retrospective effect from April 1 01 and that there was no need for eighth pricing policy.
The fertilisers and chemicals ministry is in the process of determining the new pricing (seventh pricing) which would be applicable from July 1, 1997 and recommendations on similar lines are being made.

Apart from the finance ministry, Ficci has also written to various ministries, including chemicals and fertilisers, agriculture, commerce and industry, and law, justice & company affairs, the Prime Minister’s Office as also Planning Commission.