There is no shortage of fertilisers in the country due to problems in Red Sea: Mansukh Mandaviya

Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told reporters in New Delhi that there is no shortage of fertilizers in the country despite the crisis in Red Sea. He also informed that the Indian Navy is protecting cargo vessels.

New Delhi:Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said the Ministry of External Affairs is making necessary interventions and the Indian Navy is giving protection to Indian cargo vesselsamid the red sea crisis.

Fertilizer Minister Mandaviya further said that there is no shortage of fertilisers in the country due to problems in the Red Sea.

"Ministry of External Affairs is making necessary interventions and the Indian Navy is giving protection to Indian cargo vessels," Mandaviya told reporters here.

Ever since the Red Sea crisis broke out, most Indian exporters, including shippers of merchandise and basmati rice, have been taking a longer route to access European and Middle-Eastern markets, going around the Cape of Good Hope, which has increased shipment costs.

Mandaviya, who is also the Union Health Minister, further said the government's fertiliser subsidy is likely to decline 30-34 per cent to Rs 1.7-1.8 lakh crore this fiscal due to fall in global prices and lower imports of urea. He said that the subsidy bill stood at Rs 2.56 lakh crore in the last fiscal.

He added that there is no shortage of fertiliser in the country and the imports have not been interrupted amid the Red Sea crisis as the Indian Navy is protecting cargo vessels.

"At present, the country has stocks of 70 lakh tonnes of urea, 20 lakh tonnes of DAP, 10 lakh tonnes of MoP (Muriate of Potash), 40 lakh tonnes of NPK and 20 lakh tonnes of SSP (single super phosphate)," the minister said when asked about the present fertiliser stocks.

Stressing on higher domestic production and increased use of nano liquid urea, Mandaviya said the urea imports are estimated at 40-50 lakh tonnes this fiscal which is lower from around 75 lakh tonnes imported in the previous year.

The violent regional spillover of Israel's war with Hamas is disrupting global trade and the crisis around the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, a crucial shipping route connecting the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean, has escalated due to recent attacks by Yemen-based Houthi militants.

Mandaviya was interacting with a selected group of reporters on the occasion of releasing his book "Fertilising The Future: Bharat's March Towards Fertiliser Self-Sufficiency". The minister through his book has tried to highlight India's initiative for self dependency as far as fertilisers are concerned.

"In the last few years, many countries of the world faced the problem of fertiliser crisis. But under the leadership of Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), India did not let these crises affect the farmers and agriculturists of our country. Modiji ensured that the rising prices of fertilisers in the global markets will not affect the farmers of the country. For this, the government worked to increase the subsidy. Even though the burden of subsidy on the government continued to increase, the PM was determined not to let the country's food providers feel its burden," said an introductory note on Mandaviya's book.

It said that approximately 3.5 crore tons of urea is consumed every year in India. Of these, India has been importing approximately 70-80 lakh metric tons.

"Now it is continuously decreasing the import and we hope that soon India will become self-sufficient in urea. With the inspiration of the Prime Minister, the closed urea factories were restarted. Besides this, new urea production plants were also set up. Apart from this, by developing Nano urea and producing it on a large scale, India has made significant progress in becoming self-sufficient in urea. In the case of DAP also, remarkable work is being done towards making the country self-reliant," the note stated.

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