THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI SRIKANT KUMAR JENA)
(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.
Statement referred to in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Question No. 15 to be answered on
19.11.2009 regarding `Import of Fertilizers`.
(a) & (b) Urea is the only fertilizer under statutory price control and it is imported for
direct agriculture use on Government account through State Trading Enterprises (STEs) i.e.
MMTC, STC and IPL to bridge the gap between assessed demand and indigenous production.
Government is also importing approximately 19 LMT urea from Oman India Fertiliser Company
(OMIFCO) under Long Term Urea Off Take Agreement (UOTA) between GOI & OMIFCO. The
year wise import of urea on Government account during the last three years and during the
current financial year (upto 31.10.2009) along with weighted average C&F price and value in US
$ is given below: -
Year Imports from OMIFCO Imports through STEs Total (Oman) Qty.In lakh MT Weighted Value Qty. Weighted Average in million US$ In Average MMTC STC IPL TOTAL C&F price lakh MT C&F price US$ per MT in US$ per MT
2006-07 18.37 168.66 12.47 16.35 28.82 248.85 1027.01
2007-08 18.91 180.10 27.76 22.61 50.37 344.00 2073.30
2008-09 19.06 232.79 11.58 7.94 18.09 37.61 528.03 2429.62
2009-10 12.26 177.91 10.27 0.22 10.01 20.50 277.41 786.81
(till
31.10.2009)
STEs have already contracted for nearly 32 lakh tonnes of urea for the current year till
date. Out of which, 20.50 LMT has already arrived upto October 09 and the balance quantity is
expected to reach during November 09 & December 09.
Fertilizers other than Urea are imported under Open General Licence (OGL). Importers
import these fertilizers as per their commercial judgment. However, Government is paying
subsidy on these fertilizers under Concession Scheme. The details of DAP & MOP imported
company wise during last three years and in the current year (upto 31.10.2009) are at
Annexure 1 & 2.
The countries from where the fertilizers have been imported during the last three years
are Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Canada, Chile, CIS, Egypt, Estonia,
Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia,
Mexico, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Russia, S. Arabia, S. Africa, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia, Thailand,
UAE, USA and UK.
(c):Yes, Sir. Fertilizers are being regularly imported in the country to bridge the gap between
assessed requirement projected by Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC) and
indigenous production in the country. The quantum of fertilizer imports varies from year to
year. Almost entire requirement of phosphatic & potassic fertilizers is met through imports
either by way of import of raw material or finished fertilizers. In case of urea the country
was nearly self sufficient from 1998-99 to 2004-05. The import of urea was either nil or very
nominal during these years. The import of fertilizers has been increased during the last
three years due to good monsoon and sudden spurt in demand.
(d) & (e) Yes, Sir. At the time of discharging of fertilizers at Indian ports, fertilizer
inspectors of Central Government inspect and collect samples of the material for checking its
quality at the Central Fertilizer Quality Control Laboratory & Training Institute (CFQC & TI)
Faridabad and its 3 Regional Laboratories situated in Mumbai, Vizag and Kalyani (West Bengal).
As per information given by Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Government of India the
total number of samples collected by the CFQC &TI for the three major imported fertilizers i.e.
Urea, DAP & MOP were 344 in 2006-07, 504 in 2007-08, 660 in 2008-09 and 314 in 2009-10 (upto
31.10.2009). As per report one sample of DAP shipments was found to be not conforming to
particle size specification during the year 2008-09. On the request of M/s IPL who was
importer in this case, the second sample was analysed which conformed to particle size
specification as per FCO but was found non standard in respect of nutrient contents. As the
analysis of the samples showed different results, the matter is under consideration by
Department of Agriculture & Cooperation for taking a final view. Further action will depend
on the decision of Department of Agriculture & Cooperation.
