CHENNAI: Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertiliser M K Alagiri on Sunday said that he would write to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to increase subsidy for fertiliser so that prices will come down.In a statement here, explaining the reasons for increase in the price of fertilisers, Alagiri said that 90 per cent of Di-Ammonium-Phosphate (DAP) and 100 per cent of Potash is being imported. “Hence, such fertilisers has to be sold in India at the same price at which it is being procured.”Sufficient quantity of raw material and fertiliser itself has not been produced globally. “Also, due to the political changes at the global level and particularly in the central east Asian countries, sufficient quantity of fertiliser could not be made available in India,” the union minister pointed out.During the erstwhile concession regime, the government determined the Maximum Retail Price for DAP, potash and complex fertilisers. Last year, under the Nutrient Based Subsidy plan, the authority to fix the MRP was handed over to the importers and producers, while subsidy is fixed once in a year by the government, he noted. “I am not in agreement to this policy,” he stressed. To increase the subsidy for fertilisers and to bring down its price, Alagiri said he would write to the PM.
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