Centre spent over Rs 1 lakh crores on fertilizer subsidy in last 9 budgets to support farmers against price fluctuations: Union Minister

The Indian government has spent over Rs 1 lakh crores on fertilizer subsidies for farmers over the past nine years to reduce the impact of market price fluctuations, stated Union Minister G Kishan Reddy in a recent press conference in Hyderabad. The government has also initiated various programs to benefit farmers, including the PM Kisan Yojana, which provides Rs 6,000 to farmers for buying fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides. The Union Minister mentioned that the government did not raise fertilizer prices during the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war to support farmers. The government subsidizes urea bags and gives them at Rs 267, while its cost is Rs 2,503, meaning the central government bears the subsidy of Rs 2,236 per bag. A farmer with ten acres of land can receive around Rs 1,92,120 annually through these subsidies. More than 60% of the population in India depends on farming, and these initiatives aim to aid the agriculture sector.