Govt to provide Rs 65,000 cr for subsidised fertilisers

New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced that the Central government will provide Rs 65,000 crore for subsidised fertilisers for farmers for the upcoming crop season.As per the government, the increased supply of fertilisers at subsidised rates will help 14 crore farmers.Fertiliser consumption, which was 499 lakh metric tonne in 2016-17, is expected to increase to 673 lakh metric tonne in 2020-21.A Finance Ministry presentation said that there is an estimated increase in fertiliser usage of 17.8 per cent over the actual usage in 2019-20 of 571 lakh metric tonnes. The increase is on account of favourable monsoons and the resultant increase in sown area.The announcement was part of the Centre's third stimulus package, which the Finance Minister termed as "Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0"
--IANS rrb/sn/vd