DAP Availability Boosted Amidst Supply Disruptions: MoS Patel

New Delhi, Dec 4 (PTI) Union Minister Anupriya Patel on Wednesday said the geopolitical disturbances this year caused disruptions in fertiliser supply chain and also impacted domestic availability of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), but the government took many steps to overcome challenges of providing nutrients to farmers on time.

Addresing an annual seminar of Fertilisers Association of India, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Anupriya Patel said India's agricultural sector depends significantly on the import of some of the critical fertilizers like DAP (Di-ammonium phosphate), MoP (Muriate of Potash), NPKs and partially even urea.

"And this year, there have been some geopolitical disturbances which led to supply chain disruption and that had an impact on the availability of fertilizers, especially of DAP in the country. But the Department (of fertilizers) rose to the occasion," she said.

To overcome this challenge, Patel said the Centre took several proactive measures.

"Along with the proactive steps that we took in terms of procuring fertilizers through long-term agreements with the supplier countries, the government also kept its focus on promoting the use of alternate fertilizers as well as indigenous nano-fertilizers like Nano-DAP and Nano-Urea," the minister said.

That apart, Patel said, regular coordination was made with the state governments, the port authorities, the ministry of railways and even the fertilizer companies to ensure faster dispatch of fertilizers to the demand intensive regions.

Patel said the government took two major decisions to address the challenges for the current Rabi (winter-sown) season, 2024-25.

The first decision is regarding offering of a special package of Rs 3,500 per tonne on DAP, costing Rs 2,625 crore to the central exchequer, which is to make the price sustainable for the companies to import DAP amid global price volatility, the minister said.

Secondly, Patel said that the overall increase in the prices of P&K fertilisers in the international market has been linked to the market prices. "If the procurement price of P&K fertilisers including DAP increases in the global market, the procurement capacities of the companies are not going to be affected," she added.

In 2024-25, the government has approved one-time special package on DAP beyond the NBS rates on actual PoS (Point of Sale) sale of DAP for the period from April 1, 2024 till December 31, 2024 at the rate of Rs 3,500 per tonne to the P&K fertilizer companies with approximate financial implication of Rs 2,625 crore to ensure sustainable availability of DAP at affordable prices to the farmers.

On November 27, the ministry had said in a statement, "This year, due to the prevailing geo-political situations such as less export to India by major suppliers and the Red Sea Crisis, the DAP supplies were affected."

India is dependent upon the DAP imports to meet domestic demand. At present, about 60 per cent of the DAP requirement is met through imports. As per the industry estimates, the country requires 10 million tonnes of DAP annually.

In his video message, Union Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister J P Nadda said, "Our reliance on imports for phosphate and potassic fertilizers, coupled with global price volatility, necessitates bold steps towards self reliance."

Nadda highlighted that the government has undertaken significant measures such as revival of urea plants and promoting neem and sulphur coated urea and nano fertilizers to enhance the efficiency.

He said there is a need to give a strong focus on enhancing fertilizer efficiency.