Tag: Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs

CCEA approves Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) rates for Phosphatic & Potassic (P&K) Fertilisers for the year 2021-22

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for fixation of Nutrient Based Subsidy Rates for P&K Fertilizers for the year 2021-22(till the present season).The approved rates for NBS effective from the date of notification shall be as under:

 

Per Kg Subsidy rates (in Rs.)

 

N (Nitrogen)

 

P(Phosphorus)

 

K(Potash)

 

S(Sulphur)

 

18.789

 

45.323

 

10.116

 

2.374

 

 

The Government of India is making available fertilizers, namely Urea and 22 grades of P&K fertilizers (including DAP) to farmers at subsidized prices through fertilizer manufacturers/ importers. The subsidy on P&K fertilizers is being governed by NBS Scheme w.e.f. 01.04.2010. In accordance with its farmer friendly approach, the Government is committed to ensure the availability of P&K fertilizers to the farmers at affordable prices. The subsidy is released to fertilizer companies as per NBS rates so that they can make available fertilizers to farmers at affordable price.

Government is fully sensitive to the concerns of farmers also and is already taking steps to tackle the situation so that the farming community can be saved from the effects of this price rise of P&K fertilizers (including DAP). Accordingly, as a first step, the Government has already directed all the fertilizers companies to ensure the sufficient availability of these fertilizers in the market for farmers. Availability of fertilizers in the country is being monitored by the Government.

On the pricing front of DAP, the Government has already asked all the fertilizer companies to sell their old stocks of DAP etc. at the old prices only. Additionally, it was agreed by the Government that the country and its citizens (including farmers) are passing through unprecedented times due to the sudden surge in the second wave of COVID pandemic. Gol has already announced various special packages considering the hardships faced by the people during the COVID – 19 pandemic.

In a similar manner, considering this crisis of pricing of DAP in India as an extraordinary situation & distress for the farmers, Gol has increased the subsidy rates under NBS Scheme as a special package for farmers in such a way that MRP of DAP (including other P&K fertilisers) can be kept at the last year’s level till the present Kharif season. This has been done as a one-time measure as COVID -19 package to reduce the hardships of farmers. As anticipated that international prices may come down in a few months, Gol may review the situation accordingly and decide regarding subsidy rates at that point of time. The estimated additional subsidy burden for such an arrangement will be around Rs 14,775 crore.

Deep Ocean Mission gets Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approval

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) on “Deep Ocean Mission”, with a view to explore the deep ocean for resources and develop deep sea technologies for sustainable use of ocean resources. 

The estimated cost of the Mission will be Rs. 4077 crore for a period of 5 years to be implemented in a phase-wise manner. The estimated cost for the first phase for the 3 years (2021-2024) would be Rs.2823.4 crore. Deep Ocean Mission will be a mission mode project to support the Blue Economy Initiatives of the Government of India. The Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) will be the nodal Ministry implementing this multi-institutional ambitious mission.

The Deep Ocean Mission consists of the following six major components:

  1. Development of Technologies for Deep Sea Mining, and Manned Submersible: A manned submersible will be developed to carry three people to a depth of 6000 metres in the ocean with a suite of scientific sensors and tools. Only a very few countries have acquired this capability. An Integrated Mining System will be also developed for mining Polymetallic Nodules from 6000 m depth in the central Indian Ocean. The exploration studies of minerals will pave the way for commercial exploitation in the near future, as and when commercial exploitation code is evolved by the International Seabed Authority, an UN organization. This component will help the Blue Economy priority area of exploring and harnessing of deep sea minerals and energy.
  2. Development of Ocean Climate Change Advisory Services: A suite of observations and models will be developed to understand and provide future projections of important climate variables on seasonal to decadal time scales under this proof of concept component. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of coastal tourism.
  3. Technological innovations for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity: Bio-prospecting of deep sea flora and fauna including microbes and studies on sustainable utilization of deep sea bio-resources will be the main focus. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Fisheries and allied services.
  4. Deep Ocean Survey and Exploration: The primary objective of this component is to explore and identify potential sites of multi-metal Hydrothermal Sulphides mineralization along the Indian Ocean mid-oceanic ridges. This component will additionally support the Blue Economy priority area of deep sea exploration of ocean resources.
  5. Energy and freshwater from the Ocean: Studies and detailed engineering design for offshore Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) powered desalination plant are envisaged in this proof of concept proposal. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of off-shore energy development.
  6. Advanced Marine Station for Ocean Biology: This component is aimed at the development of human capacity and enterprise in ocean biology and engineering. This component will translate research into industrial application and product development through on-site business incubator facilities. This component will support the Blue Economy priority area of Marine Biology, Blue trade and Blue manufacturing.

Cabinet approves extension of applicability of New Investment Policy (NIP)-2012

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for extension of applicability of New Investment Policy (NIP)-2012 read with its amendment dated 7thOct 2014 for the Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL).

RFCL is a Joint Venture Company consisting of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Fertilizers Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) which was incorporated on 17.02.2015. RFCL is reviving the erstwhile Ramagundam Unit of FCIL by setting up a new gas based green field neem coated Urea Plant with the installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Ton per annum (LMTPA). The cost of the RFCL Urea project is Rs.6165.06 crore. Gas to the RFCL plant is supplied by GAIL through the MBBVPL (Mallavaram-Bhopal-Bhilwara-Vijaipur Gas Pipeline) of GSPL India Transco Limited (GITL).

The state-of-the-art gas based RFCL Plant is part of the initiative taken by the Government to revive the closed urea units of FCIL/HFCL in order to achieve self sufficiency in urea sector. The start of the Ramagundam plant will add 12.7 LMTPA indigenous urea production in the country and help to realize the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in the urea production. It will be one of the largest fertilizer manufacturing units of South India. The Project shall not only improve the availability of fertilizer to farmers but also give a boost to the economy in the region including development of infrastructure like roads, railways, ancillary industry etc. besides ensuring food security to the nation.

RFCL has various unique features like latest technology HTER (Halder Topse Exchange Reformer) to save energy in production of Urea among single train largest capacity Urea plant,  140 Meter high prilling tower to ensure best quality urea prills, fully automated bagging and rail / truck loading facility  for dispatch of Urea having capacity to dispatch more than 4000 MT Urea per day, MCR (Main Control Room) equipped with DCS (Distributed Control System), ESD (Emergency Shutdown system for improved safety and availability), On-line MMS (Machine Monitoring Systems), OTS (Operator Training Simulator), Environment monitoring system. The systems are operated by the highly motivated, dedicated, well trained Operations.

The facility integrates the world’s best technologies aiming to meet the demand for urea in Telangana as well as in the other Southern and central states of India, namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, etc. The urea produced at RFCL shall be marketed by National Fertilizers Limited.

It may be noted that Government of India is reviving five closed units of FCIL / HFCL by setting up new Ammonia Urea Plants of 12.7 LMTPA capacity each at Ramagundam (Telangana), Talcher (Odisha), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Barauni (Bihar) through formation of Joint Ventures of leading PSUs with an investment of about Rs. 40 thousand crore. On operationalization of these Plants, indigenous urea production will be increased by 63.5 LMTPA which will reduce the import of urea to that extent and will save huge amount of foreign exchange and will lead towards self-reliance in urea sector realising the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minster for “AtmaNirbhar Bharat”.

 

Union Cabinet approves Minimum Support Prices for Kharif Crops for marketing season 2021-22

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has approved the increase in the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for all mandated Kharif crops for marketing season 2021-22.

Government has increased the MSP of Kharif crops for marketing season 2021-22, to ensure remunerative prices to the growers for their produce. The highest absolute increase in MSP over the previous year has been recommended for sesamum (Rs. 452 per quintal) followed by tur and urad (Rs. 300 per quintal each). In case of groundnut and niger seed, there has been an increase of Rs 275 per quintal and Rs 235 per quintal respectively in comparison to last year. The differential remuneration is aimed at encouraging crop diversification.

The increase in MSP for Kharif Crops for marketing season 2021-22 is in line with the Union Budget 2018-19 announcement of fixing the MSPs at a level of at least 1.5 times of the All-India weighted average Cost of Production (CoP), aiming at reasonably fair remuneration for the farmers. The expected returns to farmers over their cost of production are estimated to be highest in case of Bajra (85%) followed by urad (65%) and tur (62%). For the rest of the crops, return to farmers over their cost of production is estimated to be at least 50%.

Besides, the Umbrella Scheme “Pradhan Mantri AnnadataAaySanraksHan Abhiyan’ (PM-AASHA) announced by the government in 2018 will aid in providing remunerative return to farmers for their produce. The Umbrella Scheme consists of three sub-schemes i.e. Price Support Scheme (PSS), Price Deficiency Payment Scheme (PDPS) and Private Procurement & Stockist Scheme (PPSS) on a pilot basis.

With an aim to attain self-sufficiency in the production of pulses, a special Kharif strategy has been prepared for implementation in the ensuing Kharif 2021 season. A detailed plan for both area expansion and productivity enhancement for Tur, Moong, and Urad has been formulated. Under the strategy, all the available high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of seeds will be distributed free of cost to increase area through intercropping and sole crop. Similarly, for Oilseeds, the Government of India has approved an ambitious plan for the free distribution of high-yielding varieties of seeds to the farmers for the Kharif season 2021 in the form of mini-kits. The special Kharif program will bring an additional 6.37 lakh hectare area under oilseeds and is likely to produce 120.26 lakh quintals of oilseeds and edible oil amounting to 24.36 lakh quintals.