Amid a spike in fertiliser subsidy bill, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday called for reducing import dependence in edible oil and soil nutrients, as imports of these critical items have gone up, pressuring the country’s exchequer as well as trade balance.
The government would be spending as much as Rs 2.5 trillion in fertiliser subsidy this fiscal to protect domestic farmers from soaring global prices of the soil nutrients, especially in the wake of the Ukraine war.
The Centre had budgetted fertiliser subsidy of just Rs 1.05 trillion for FY23.While the government is buying urea from overseas at `75-80 per kg, it is supplying to farmers at just Rs 5-6 per kg, he added. Six closed urea factories are being revived to augment local production, Modi added.
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The prime minister was addressing a gathering here after rolling out several farm-related projects. More than 1,500 agri startups have exhibited their products and innovations. The prime minister also praised the startups for coming out with innovative products.
Edible oil imports, too, have been rising. In the first five months of this fiscal, vegetable oil imports surged by more than 33% on year to $9.2 billion. This was on top of a 71% jump, albeit on an unfavourable base, in the last fiscal to $18.9 billion.Modi cited the example of elevated pulses production in recent years due to greater adoption of the crop by farmers, which ultimately trimmed imports. Pulses output grew 57% since the crop year 2014-15 to hit 27 million tonne in 2021-22.
Consequently, imports dropped from 4.6 million tonne in FY25 to 2.7 million tonne in the last fiscal, according to the farm ministry data.
The PM stressed the Oil-Palm mission of the government, launched with the objective of making the country self-reliant in edible oil.