Centre Responds to Revanth's Request on Urea Supplies, Expresses Concern on Overuse
Nadda assured full support to meet the demand of fertilizers from farmers
Hyderabad: A day after Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy sought timely supply of urea to Telangana in the ongoing kharif season, Union chemical and fertilisers minister J.P. Nadda on Wednesday instructed officials to ensure urea supplies to Telangana as per requirement.
However, Nadda expressed concern about the excess consumption of urea in Telangana, which is detrimental to long-term health of soil.
In a press release issued on Wednesday, Nadda said Rabi-2024-25 saw 21 per cent excess sales of urea in Telangana compared to Rabi 2023-24. Similarly, Kharif 2025 so far has witnessed excess consumption of 12.4 per cent compared to the same period in Kharif 2024 in Telangana.
According to fertilisers secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra, the PM PRANAM scheme incentivises state governments to reduce excessive consumption of chemical fertilisers and promote sustainable and balanced use of fertilisers, alternate fertilisers, organic and natural farming.
He also requested Telangana government officials to take action against diversion of urea to non-agricultural uses and ensure equitable distribution of fertilisers among the various districts of Telangana.
As part of his visit to Delhi, Revanth Reddy on Tuesday met Nadda and brought to his notice that only 3.07 lakh metric tonnes of urea was supplied to Telangana between April and June as against the requirement of 5 lakh metric tonnes in the kharif season leading to severe shortage of urea in Telangana.. In view of the kharif farming activity in full swing and the projects receiving abundant inflows in the state, Revanth Reddy appealed to the Central minister to ensure no disruption in the supply of urea.
The excessive use of synthetic fertilisers in India has become a major environmental concern. In June 2023, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the PM-PRANAM scheme as an incentive to States to get as grants 50 per cent of the fertiliser subsidy saved by any State in a particular financial year.
Any reduction in the consumption of subsidised synthetic fertilisers like urea, DAP, NPK, MOP is checked against the average consumption of the state over the previous three years.
The subsidy savings is calculated based on the data in the Integrated Fertiliser Management System (IFMS) portal, with the subsidy rates determined by the department of fertilisers for that particular assessment year.