Subsidised fertilisers to be sold under ‘Bharat’ brand

Key Points of the Scheme:

• Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that all subsidised fertilisers, including Urea and DAP (Diammonium phosphate), will be sold from October under a single brand name ‘Bharat’ as part of the government’s “One Nation, One Fertiliser” initiative under the fertiliser subsidy scheme ‘Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna’ (PMBJP).
• Under ONOF companies are allowed to display their name, brand, logo and other relevant product information only on one-third space of their bags.On the remaining two-thirds space, the “Bharat” brand and Pradhanmantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana logo will have to be shown.
• This means the single brand name for UREA, Di-Ammonium Phosphate DAP, Muriate of potash (MOP) and Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium NPK etc. would be BHARAT UREA, BHARAT DAP, BHARAT MOP and BHARAT NPK etc.
• The price of the most used fertiliser, urea, is controlled by the government, meaning all manufacturing companies sell at a fixed MRP, which is just 10-20 per cent of production costs. The government provides 80-90 per cent of the cost of production to the manufacturers in the form of a subsidy.
• The government pays a subsidy to fertiliser producers to make this critical ingredient in agriculture affordable to farmers. This allows farmers to buy fertilisers at below-market rates.
• Under the new initiative, the amount of subsidy being given by the government and the price payable by farmers will be mentioned on each bag of subsidised fertiliser. According to ministry officials, one-third of the bag’s front side space is currently earmarked for companies to write their name and place their logo; the remaining two-third space will be used to give details of the subsidy scheme.