Centre ready to bear subsidy cost to protect farmers' interests

Union chemicals and fertilizer minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in an interview that the Centre is willing to spend as much on fertilizer subsidy as required to protect farmers' interests.

- Puja Das

This comes at a time when thousands of farmers from Punjab are marching towards the national capital to press the government to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee on the minimum support price (MSP) for 23 crops.

"Urea is a major component of the government's subsidy basket, and we spend a huge chunk on urea subsidy. If gas prices go up, the production cost is bound to shoot up. Last year, gas prices went up significantly, putting upward pressure on production costs, and the government bore it. Similarly, in the case of DAP, if the international price of rock phosphate increases, the price will automatically flare up, and viceversa," Mandaviya said. DAP is short for diammonium phosphate, the most commonly used phosphorus fertilizer in the world.