Telangana Agriculture Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao criticized the central government for failing miserably in supplying urea to the state as allocated. He accused that the central government is trying to cover up the mistakes being made on the issue of urea allocation and supply. Moreover, he deplored that the state BJP leaders are doing politics without knowing the figures of urea to be received by the state.
Minister Tummala appealed to the center to allocate an additional 20,000 tons of urea from each ship of the urea that will arrive by four ships at the end of August. He said that out of the 9.80 lakh metric tons of urea allocated by the Center, only 5.32 lakh metric tons of urea have been supplied so far, resulting in a deficit of 2.69 lakh metric tons.
Out of the 8.30 lakh metric tons of urea allocated from April to August, 4.34 lakh metric tons of indigenous urea and 3.96 lakh metric tons of imported urea have been supplied, of which 3.27 lakh metric tons of indigenous urea and 2.05 lakh metric tons of imported urea have been supplied.
The Minister has asked Congress MPs to take the issue of urea shortage in the state to the notice of the central government in both houses of Parliament. He said that steps should be taken to ensure that urea is supplied to the state in full as per the allocations.
While domestic urea was mainly supplied to the state from Ramagundam Fertilizers Company (RFCL), Tummala said that due to non-production at Ramagundam Fertilizers for 145 working days from April to August and 78 days for 145 working days, there has been a big deficit in urea to be supplied to the state.
Moreover, the minister said that some companies did not supply urea to the state in some months, which was to be supplied through imports. He said that due to the early start of the season and the cultivation of crops like maize, the sales of urea have increased this year compared to last year.
Minister Tummala said that sales have increased especially in districts like Nalgonda, Gadwal, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Peddapalli compared to last year. He said that a task force has been formed in the state to ensure that urea is not diverted for needs other than agriculture. He has issued instructions to the officials to take strict action if anyone diverts urea.
