Tummala Blames Centre For Urea Woes In State
State cites 1.94 lakh metric tonne supply gap for April–June; warns Kharif crop operations may suffer if fertiliser imports don’t arrive on time.
Hyderabad: The state government has raised a strong protest with the Centre over a severe shortage of urea fertiliser in Telangana during the ongoing kharif season.
In a letter to Union chemicals and fertilisers minister J.P. Nadda, Union minister for coal and mines G. Kishan Reddy and Union minister of state for home affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar on Wednesday, agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said the Centre had failed to fulfil its monthly urea supply commitment, causing distress among farmers across the state.
The minister stated that while the Centre had allotted 5 lakh metric tonnes (LMTs) of urea to Telangana for April, May and June, only 3.06 LMTs had been supplied, resulting in a shortfall of 1.94 LMTs. The shortage was particularly acute in imported urea supplies, he said.
Providing detailed figures, Nageswara Rao said that in April, the state received 1.22 LMTs against an allocation of 1.70 LMTs. In May, the supply was 0.88 LMTs out of 1.60 LMTs allocated. In June, against a quota of 1.70 LMTs, only 0.96 LMTs were received. Imported urea saw a major deficit. In April, only 0.13 LMTs were supplied out of 0.41 LMTs, in May, 0.42 LMTs out of 1.11 LMTs and in June, 0.81 LMTs out of 1.08 LMTs.
Nageswara Rao expressed concern that urea consumption peaks during July, August and September and any disruption now could severely impact crop health and farmer livelihoods. He urged the Centre to immediately supply the 0.97 LMTs of imported urea allotted for July and expedite shipments via ports.
The minister also appealed to Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay to intervene and ensure that Telangana gets its due share without delay.
He sought an increase in monthly allocation from Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (RFCL) from 30,800 to 60,000 MTs and demanded an additional supply plan to cover the deficit from April–June.
Nageswara Rao reiterated that Kharif operations are in full swing and any further delay in urea supplies would derail the season. He hoped the Centre would act swiftly in the interest of farmers and ensure an uninterrupted fertiliser supply.