Parliament panel calls for permanent mechanism to tackle fertilizer shortages
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers has recommended the creation of a permanent joint fertilizer command and monitoring cell to provide continuous, real-time coordination among the Department of Fertilizers, the Department of Agriculture, Railways, and state governments during every cropping season. The recommendation comes in response to recurring reports of shortages, farmer protests, and distribution-related disruptions despite repeated assurances of adequate fertilizer availability.
The panel, chaired by Trinamool Congress MP Kirti Azad, tabled a report on Thursday (August 6, 2026) in both Houses of Parliament. The report also criticised the Union government's interventions to ensure adequate supply of input materials during the ongoing war in West Asia as "largely reactive" and not guided by a pre-existing institutionalised contingency framework for foreseeable disruptions at critical maritime chokepoints, including the Strait of Hormuz.
The committee noted that the Centre currently limits its role to ensuring state-level availability, treating last-mile distribution solely as a state responsibility. This approach, it said, has contributed to persistent gaps in last-mile delivery. The absence of a robust permanent institutional mechanism for coordinated Centre-state monitoring and timely intervention has been a key factor behind these supply bottlenecks, the panel added, suggesting the formation of the joint cell.
In its report, the panel also flagged the "persistent underperformance" of new generation urea plants, which continue to operate significantly below their potential despite being among the country's latest manufacturing facilities. It recommended that all future technology transfer, engineering, and equipment supply contracts for fertilizer public sector undertakings and joint ventures must include robust performance guarantees and warranty obligations. This would ensure that the financial consequences of technology failure are borne by the supplier and not the public exchequer. The committee further recommended an urgent plant-wise diagnostic assessment of all underutilised and idle diammonium phosphate units to identify raw material, technical, commercial, and operational constraints limiting production.
On the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, the panel called for an institutionalised contingency framework beyond ad hoc crisis response. It observed that the disruption led to a sharp decline in domestic urea production due to gas curtailment, delays in fertilizer shipments, and a substantial increase in freight and insurance costs. The proposed framework should provide for priority gas allocation, pre-identified alternate sourcing and shipping routes, strategic buffer stock norms, coordinated logistics planning, and periodic simulation exercises to ensure preparedness for future disruptions.
In a separate report titled 'Evaluation of Implementation of the Fertilizer (Movement Control) Order, 1973', the committee said a comprehensive review of the order is necessary given its shortcomings in enforcement. Enacted over 50 years ago, the order predates the present digital ecosystem, including the Integrated Fertilizer Management System (iFMS), e-PoS, Agristack, and Direct Benefit Transfer. The report said the order needs requisite updation and alignment to address emerging challenges in fertilizer regulation and enforcement.
