What is Modified New Pricing Scheme-III?

The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi recently gave its nod to remove ambiguities in Modified New Pricing Scheme-III. This was done to determine the costs of urea units.

Modified New Pricing Scheme

The Modified NPS scheme-III was launched in 2014. So far, there have been four NPS schemes. The latest NPS-3 scheme was modified in April 2014 and has been extended for a year. The scheme was modified to give boost to PM’s Make in India Campaign

The Modified scheme provided incentives to the domestic urea manufacturers, encouraged investment in urea production sector, reduced urea imports. It mainly aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in urea production.

However, the scheme could not be implemented due to its ambiguous language. The new notification is to facilitate smooth implementation of the scheme with an additional grant of Rs 350 per metric tonne.

The GoI has restricted import of Urea greatly

Import of Urea

The import of Urea was restricted for a certain period in 2018-19. However, in 2019, the ban was lifted with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers, a GoI undertaking operating under Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers completely undertaking the import of urea. The PSU was established in 1978. It manufactures fertilizers, urea and chemicals. It is the fourth largest manufacturer of chemicals in India.

The manufacturing unit of the PSU is located in Trombay and Thal (100 km from south Mumbai).

Month: Current Affairs - March, 2020