Centre extends freight subsidy to SSP fertilisers

Subvention With A Rider

- Rs316 subsidy per MT for a distance of 201 km and 300 km

- Rs407 per MT subsidy for 301-400km distance

- Rs500 per MT for 401- 500km distance

- No reimbursement on secondary movement by road from the destination rake point to the block headquarters in district

New Delhi: The government has decided to bring single super phosphate (SSP) fertilizers under the freight subsidy regime for Kharif-2022 on a pilot basis. The subsidy will be given to the road movement between 200 km and 500 km, official sources told Bizz Buzz.

The freight subsidy SSP will be at par with the phosphatic & potassic (P&K) subsidy, but this will be subject to a few conditions. Between a distance of 201 km and 300 km, the subsidy would be Rs316 per MT, between 301 km and 400 km it would be Rs407 per MT, and between 401 km and 500 km, it would be Rs500 per MT.

There will, however, be no reimbursement on account of secondary movement by road from the destination rake point to the block headquarters in the district.

However, 'special concessions' on account of secondary freight for all P&K fertilizers will be provided for the 'difficult areas'—Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Jammu&Kashmir, Ladakh, seven North-Eastern States, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

The freight subsidy, along with penal interest, will be recovered from the subsequent bills if the SSP samples fail to clear the quality tests. Freight subsidy costs the exchequer Rs6,000-9,000 crore per year.

In August, the Central government had decided that all subsidized fertilizers would be sold under the single brand 'Bharat' from October. The objective was to timely delivery of soil nutrients to farmers and a smaller freight subsidy bill.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had allocated Rs1.05 lakh crore on fertilizer subsidies for the current fiscal, but they are likely to touch Rs2.5 lakh crore.