Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting with officials of Department of Fertilisers and stakeholders of the fertiliser industry on Monday to improve the availability of phosphatic fertilisers (DAP and NPK) and to reduce the dependence on imports by making India 'aatmnirbhar' in fertilisers.
He said the Department of Fertilisers is ready with an action plan to make India self-reliant in rock phosphate, the key raw material of DAP and NPK fertilisers.
"By following the clarion call of 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India is surely marching towards achieving self-reliance in fertilisers in the time to come," he said.
An official release said that the action plan has been chalked out for making India Aatmanirbhar in fertiliser production through indigenous resources.
Mandaviya called for steps to ramp up the production in the 30 lakh MT of phosphorite deposits that are available in Rajasthan, the central part of peninsular India, Hirapur(MP), Lalitpur(UP), Mussoorie syncline and Cuddapah basin.
Discussions are being held with the Department of Mining and Geological Survey of India to expedite the exploration in the potential potassic ore areas in Rajasthan's Satipura, Bharusari and Lakhasar, besides Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
The release said that the departments are working jointly to start mining of potential reserves as soon as possible.
The action plan includes steps to minimize the import dependency of costly raw material and make it accessible and affordable to farmers.
India is 90 per cent dependent on imports of rock phosphate.
The release said that volatility in international prices affects domestic prices of fertilisers and hinders the progress and development of the agriculture sector in the country.
The minister called the meeting with stakeholders to expedite the exploration and mining of available rock phosphate reserves in India.
( With inputs from ANI )
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