The Department of Fertilisers should vigorously pursue the proposal for exemption of taxes for indigenous fertiliser manufacturers with the Finance Ministry to give the sector a boost, the Parliamentary Standing Committee of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers has recommended.

The Committee also recommended that the fertiliser department should strengthen its budgetary planning and formulate effective plans for loss-making Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs).

Strategic importance On the need for promoting indigenous fertiliser producers, the Committee said that it was concerned about the absence of any incentives in the form of lower taxes for the sector given the strategic importance of chemical fertilisers in ensuring food security. It also recommended that the Fertiliser Department urgently take suitable measures to boost the growth of the industry, leading to self-sufficiency. “The Committee would like to be apprised of the measures taken in this regard,” the report said.

Funds allocation The Committee also pointed out that non-allocation of Plan funds to loss making CPSEs had adversely affected their functioning and operation. “The Fertiliser Department has not taken up its proposal to make these loss-making CPSEs functional … earnestly with the Finance Ministry,” the report said.

It added that the department should formulate effective plans for loss-making central public sector enterprises to make then functional through optimum utilisation of available funds.

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