The Union government is reviewing a report from the Chief Advisor (Cost) in the Ministry of Finance on restoring the minimum fixed cost of ₹2,300 per tonne for select public sector and cooperative urea manufacturing units. Minister of State for Fertilisers Anupriya Patel informed the Lok Sabha about the development on Friday.
Patel was responding to a question from BJP MP Parshottambhai Rupala regarding the timeline for resolving the long-pending fixed-cost issue under the Modified New Pricing Scheme-III (NPS-III). She stated that the Department of Fertilisers had approached the Department of Expenditure after the Expenditure Finance Committee (EFC) raised certain concerns.
The EFC had advised that all costing-related matters be referred to the Chief Advisor (Cost) for detailed scrutiny and recommendations. Following this, the fertiliser department sought an examination of the proposal to reinstate the fixed cost of ₹2,300 per metric tonne, with retrospective effect from April 2, 2014.
“The report of the Chief Advisor (Cost) has been received in the department and is currently under examination,” Patel stated in her written reply.