Centre has no proposal to bring nano fertilizers under PLI scheme: MoS Anupriya Patel

New Delhi [India], February 9 : The government has no proposal to bring the production of nano fertilizers under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, MoS chemicals and fertilisers Anupriya Patel informed Lok Sabha this week.
As part of its 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' and 'Make in India' plan, the government launched production incentive (PLI) schemes in over a dozen sectors in 2020, to make Indian manufacturers globally competitive, attract investments, enhance exports, integrate India into the global supply chain and reduce dependency on imports.
The minister was asked to respond whether the government intends to bring in a Production-Linked Incentive scheme for promoting the production of Nano Fertilisers by the private sector.
Use of nano urea is promoted through different activities such as awareness camps, webinars, nukkad nataks, field demonstrations, Kisan Sammelans and films in regional languages, the minister supplemented in her written reply.
"Spraying of nano fertilizers through drones has emerged as a cost-effective method. During the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, farmers had shown interest in adopting this new technology of spraying," the minister said in her written reply.
Nano Urea and Nano DAP are made available at Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendras (PMKSKs) by concerned companies.
The minister also said that there is no provision for subsidy on nano urea by the Department of Fertilizers. However, the department is encouraging its companies to set up nano fertilizer plants.
"Nano Fertilizers are still in the initial state of experimentation and the increase in sales and subsequent impact of Nano Fertilizers on conventional Urea depends on the level of adoption of Nano Fertilizers by the farmers. Therefore, the potential reduction in fertilizer subsidies through the adoption of Nano Urea and Nano DAP, cannot be accurately estimated at this stage," the minister said in a separate reply to the Parliament.
The nano urea is a revolution in the agriculture sector as it has the potential to reduce storage space and money while improving crop yield.
Fertilizers are vital agricultural inputs, that among others, enhance crop production.