Finance Ministry approves 5,500 cr as SBA to pay fertiliser subsidy

Finance Ministry has approved for Rs 5,500 crore against Rs 12,000 crore sought by the Department of Fertilisers under a Special Banking Arrangement (SBA) to pay part of the subsidy bill to the industry which is going through a liquidity crunch as the domestic urea subsidy funds have been exhausted.
The department has the total requirement of about Rs 30,000 crore which the department might seek under supplementary grant. Of this about Rs 12,000 crore is immediately required.
The government has slightly slashed the fertiliser subsidy to Rs 65,971.50 crore for the 2013-14 fiscal from the revised estimate of Rs 65,974 crore in 2012-13.
Of this, the government will provide Rs 15,544.44 crore for imported urea, Rs 21,000 crore for indigenous (urea) fertilisers, and Rs 29,426.86 crore for decontrolled fertilisers (DAP, MOP and complexes) for supplying the inputs to farmers at a subsidized rate.

Month: Current Affairs - September, 2013