PNS|Hyderabad
The Telangana government has raised serious concerns over the shortage in the supply of urea by the Centre. Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao asked senior officials to visit New Delhi to pursue the matter in person.
Despite allocations, the state received significantly less urea than planned during April and May, resulting in a deficit of 1.14 lakh tonnes just ahead of the Kharif season.
Official data says that while the Centre allocated 9.80 lakh tonnes of urea to the state for the entire season, only 1.22 lakh metric tonnes were supplied against the 1.70 lakh MT allocated for April, and just 0.94 lakh MT against 1.60 lakh MT for May. June has seen a negligible supply so far, with only 0.03 lakh MT received out of the allocated 1.70 lakh MT.
Officials pointed out that a major part of the allocations was dependent on imported urea, the delay of which has caused disruption.
“Last year, we ensured five lakh metric tonnes were stocked ahead of the season. This year too, we planned accordingly and nominated TG MARKFED as the nodal agency to ensure seamless availability. Yet the shortage in Central supply created serious challenges,” said a senior agriculture official.
Tummala has already written to the Centre twice seeking compensation for the deficit, and has now issued fresh directions to the Agriculture Director to visit New Delhi and press for immediate redressal.
The Minister is also understood to have appealed that June allocations should be supplied primarily from domestically produced urea to avoid further complications.
While Telangana requested that the pending 1.14 lakh MT from April and May be added to June’s allocation, the Centre has again allocated 67 per cent imported urea for the current month.
With the early arrival of the monsoon and farmers already beginning sowing, the state emphasised the urgent need for adequate urea supply.
Tummala, in a third letter to the Centre, urged it to ensure that the full June allocation reaches the state promptly to avoid disruptions in the cropping cycle.
