Central Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated at the Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela that the central government is considering giving fertilizer subsidy directly to farmers.
SNPNEWS.IN News (Gurmail Kamboj): The Government of India has been releasing fertilizer subsidy under the Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme to companies since 1 April 2010. The main objective of this scheme is to ensure that farmers get fertilizers at affordable prices and to increase the use of balanced nutrients (phosphorus, potash, sulfur) in agriculture. Subsidy on urea is not released under NBS scheme.
The central government releases ₹1.71 to ₹1.9 lakh crore annually to companies in the form of subsidy. Under a specific process, companies supply urea, DAP, and other fertilizers to dealers/cooperative societies, which sell them to farmers (any Aadhaar card holder) at the government-fixed price after verification via POS machines (linked to the e-Urvarak portal) using Aadhaar card (biometric or OTP). After this, the supplying companies claim 100% subsidy based on sales. The Department of Fertilizers makes payment within 7-10 days.
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In recent years, the central government has been receiving large-scale complaints about black marketing of fertilizers and their illegal (industrial) use, forcing farmers to buy at prices higher than fixed rates or purchase unnecessary items (such as sulphur, micraza, bio-potash, organic manure, PROM, etc.), which has become a major headache for farmers. Due to this, the central government is considering changing this process.
Yesterday, on 25 February, Central Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan arrived in Delhi to inaugurate the three-day Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela. There, he said that fertilizer subsidy (approximately ₹1.7 to ₹2 lakh crore per year) is being considered to be sent directly to farmers’ bank accounts instead of to companies. This would allow farmers to choose fertilizers according to their will, and diversion (misuse) would stop. He instructed officials to prepare a practical arrangement for this.
Prior to this, on 24 February 2026, at the Business Standard Manthan Event 2026 (held at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi), Central Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan spoke about transferring fertilizer subsidy directly to farmers’ bank accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and demanded a national debate on it.
He said that the time has come to send fertilizer subsidy (approximately ₹1.7 lakh crore per year) directly to farmers’ accounts instead of to companies. He stated that this would stop diversion of fertilizers (misuse, such as in factories or industry), and farmers would be able to choose fertilizers according to their needs, not just because of low prices. He said: “There should be churning (manthan) on this. I am also taking opinions from farmer leaders and intellectuals because with technology, fertilizer subsidy can be transferred directly to the farmer’s account.”
At present, farmers are being given urea at ₹266, DAP at ₹1350, NPK’s at ₹1200-1850, MOP at ₹1850. If the government implements the system of depositing subsidy directly into bank accounts, farmers going through difficult times would be forced to buy (urea 45kg) at around ₹2000 and (DAP 50kg) at ₹2700-3000, which could prove to be a major blow to small farmers. There should be discussion and exchange of views on this.