The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved fertiliser subsidy rates for phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the rabi season of 2026-27, with a tentative budget requirement of about Rs 62,370 crore. The decision was taken on a Wednesday and reported on November 11. The government said the increase is intended to keep fertiliser prices affordable for farmers as international prices rise.
The tentative outlay is up by roughly Rs 24,418 crore from the previous rabi season, when the allocation was about Rs 37,952 crore. The figures are provisional estimates rather than final spending. The actual amount will depend on how global fertiliser prices move during the subsidy period, so the final expenditure could differ from the approved figure. In rupee terms, the gap between the two seasons alone runs to a little over Rs 24,000 crore, a figure that reflects the scale of the global price pressure the government is responding to.
The subsidy applies under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme, which has been in force since April 1, 2010, and covers P&K fertilisers. Under the scheme, the government fixes a subsidy on the nutrients contained in each fertiliser rather than on the product as a whole, which is why the decision refers to specific grades. The approval is valid from October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027. It covers DAP and NPKS grades, and the government offers 28 P&K grades at subsidised prices. The subsidy is paid to manufacturers or importers at the notified rates rather than directly to farmers, so the benefit reaches growers through the prices set at the point of sale.
The government has pointed to a rise in international fertiliser and input prices as the reason for the revised allocation. The inputs named in the decision include urea, DAP, muriate of potash (MOP) and sulphur. Because India imports a significant share of several of these inputs, movements in global markets feed directly into the cost of subsidising fertilisers at home. The report does not state how the higher subsidy will affect retail prices that farmers pay at the point of sale, and no reaction from farmer organisations or industry bodies is recorded in the source notes, leaving those questions open for now.
The rabi season, which runs from October to March, is the main sowing period for wheat, mustard, gram and other winter crops across large parts of northern and central India. The timing of the approval, which precedes the validity period by several weeks, gives manufacturers and importers a defined framework for the coming months. The government has not indicated when the final expenditure figures will be available, and the allocation remains a tentative estimate until actual prices and volumes are known.
Source: morungexpress.com
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