New Delhi, March 13 (IANS) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman informed the Lok Sabha on Friday that the country currently holds a robust fertiliser stock of 163 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) for April.

This represents a significant 26 per cent increase over the previous year’s stock of 128.54 LMT.

The Minister stated that while sufficient stocks are available for the Kharif season, the government is already making provisions through supplementary demands to ensure the Department of Fertilisers can prepare effectively for the upcoming Rabi season.

Addressing the house during the discussion on the second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for the 2025-26 Budget, the Finance Minister highlighted that the government is spending approximately Rs 19,000 crore more than the original Budget Estimate for fertiliser subsidies in the second supplementary demands.

She emphasised that the focus remains on boosting domestic manufacturing alongside necessary imports. Domestic urea production has seen a steady rise, growing from 225 LMT in 2014-15 to 306.67 LMT in 2024-25.

The Lok Sabha on Friday approved the second batch of supplementary demands for grants, which will enable the government to spend an additional Rs 2.01 lakh crore in the current financial year.

The government had sought approval to spend a gross additional amount of Rs 2.81 lakh crore. However, with estimated additional receipts of Rs 80,000 crore during the current fiscal year, the net additional cash spending stands at Rs 2.01 lakh crore.

In her reply to the debate in the House, Sitharaman said the new spending will not push the fiscal deficit beyond the government’s target.

“There is no increase in expenditure beyond the BE of 2025-26 due to the second supplementary demand for grants,” the Finance Minister explained.

The supplementary demands include grants for spending on setting up an Economic Stabilisation Fund of Rs 1 lakh crore.

Parliament’s approval was also sought for an extra spending of Rs 19,230 crore towards fertilisers’ subsidy and Rs 23,641 crore for subsidies under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY).

Other major expenditure heads include Rs 41,822 crore for the defence ministry.

–IANS

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