Fertilisers and Chemicals Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Monday favoured looking into the possibility of delicensing the sale of fertilisers to increase consumption of this essential commodity for agriculture.
"It needs to be looked into why only those having licences can buy from the state Government and sell it to the farmers?" Paswan said soon after assuming charge in New Delhi.
He said there must not be any monopoly of one specific group and a single channel for disbursal of fertilisers to the farmers.
Priority has to be given to increasing fertiliser consumption among the cultivators, since it is the lifeline of agriculture, he added.
Paswan said he would look at the estimated requirement of fertilisers in the country and gauge it against the actual sales to arrive at the potential to increase consumption.
Paswan's comments assume significance with state Governments issuing licences for sale of fertilisers and even fixing price in case of 'SSP' while the subsidy is provided by the Centre.
He said since bulk of the population is with farming background, fertilisers must be provided in time or else its consumption will definitely go down.
He said in no circumstances will the profit-making PSU's under his ministry will be disinvested and as far as those in the red are concerned, he will make personal visits and examine their state of affairs.
{{/usCountry}}He said in no circumstances will the profit-making PSU's under his ministry will be disinvested and as far as those in the red are concerned, he will make personal visits and examine their state of affairs.
{{/usCountry}}As he took office, he was joined by Minister of State for Fertilisers K Rahman Khan and MP from Saharsa (Bihar) Ranjita Ranjan.