New Delhi, 29 March 2023: Minister of State Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri Bhagwanth Khuba, provided details of the government’s assistance in the manufacturing of Epichlorohydrin, a chemical compound used in various industries. In response to a query in the Lok Sabha, Shri Khuba stated that the government has reduced the basic customs duty from 7.5% to 2.5% on the raw material Crude glycerin used in the production of Epichlorohydrin. This move is expected to enable domestic Epichlorohydrin industries to remain globally competitive.
Efforts made by the Government to ensure availability of chemical fertilizers in agriculture sector
In response to another question, the Minister detailed the steps taken by the Government to ensure the availability of chemical fertilizers in the agriculture sector. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) assesses the state-wise and month-wise requirement of fertilizers in consultation with all state governments before each cropping season. The Department of Fertilizers (DoF) then allocates sufficient quantities of fertilizers to states by issuing monthly supply plans and continuously monitors their availability. The movement of all major subsidized fertilizers is monitored throughout the country through an online web-based monitoring system called the Integrated Fertilizer Monitoring System (iFMS). The State Governments are advised to coordinate with manufacturers and importers of fertilizers for streamlining supplies.
No new urea units proposed for Rural and Tribal areas
Shri Khuba clarified that the government has no proposal to set up new urea units in rural and tribal areas. However, to increase urea production in the country, the government has mandated the revival of Ramagundam (Telangana), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Talcher (Odisha) units of Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCIL) and Barauni (Bihar) unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd. (HFCL) through Joint Venture Company (JVC) of nominated PSUs for setting up new ammonia-urea plants of 12.7 LMTPA capacity each. The Ramagundam and Gorakhpur units have already been commissioned, and Barauni and Sindri units began urea production on 18 October 2022 and 5 November 2022, respectively.
