Centre committed to providing assured supply of fertilisers: Mandaviya

New Delhi, May 17 The government is committed to provide assured supply of fertilisers to the farmers and there is no shortage of fertilisers in the country, Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday.

"We have taken proactive steps to ensure adequate supply to the farmers ahead of the Kharif season both with ramping up domestic production and partnerships with other countries," he added.

In a first of its kind initiative, a high-level delegation led by Mandaviya visited Jordan from May 13 to 15, with the objective of securing fertilisers and raw materials, both for short and long term. The visit was made in the backdrop of the ongoing global fertiliser crisis.

Mandaviya said that the Jordan visit proved to be path breaking in terms of ensuring supply of Phosphatic and Potassic fertilisers to India.

"MOUs were signed with Jordan Phosphate Mining Company (JPMC) for supplies of 30 LMT Rock Phosphate, 2.50 LMT DAP, 1 LMT phosphoric acid for the current year with the Indian public, cooperative and private sector companies," said Mandaviya.

India has also signed a long term MoU for 5 years with Jordan for annual supplies of 2.75 LMT which will uniformly increase every year up to 3.25 LMT, he added.

"These supplies will be crucial for assured fertiliser supply for the ensuing cropping seasons in India," the Union Minister highlighted.

During the meetings, Mandaviya mentioned Jordan as India's preferred partner for the fertiliser sector.

Given that the two countries have a long history of trade relationships and people-to-people contact, Mandaviya highlighted the need to strengthen this association especially during these challenging times for the fertiliser sector.

With a thrust to secure additional quantities for the Indian market, Jordan was requested to take the lead in announcing India-specific terms for the supply of fertilisers, and to consider additional production capacities in Jordan with India as a target prime market.