Modi government's 3 pronged strategy to cut Fertilizer import bill to the tune of Rs 52,000 crores by 2023

Government is making all efforts for 'ease of doing business' in the fertilizer sector to make India self-reliance in fertilizer production by 2023 said Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers D V Sadananda Gowda on September 13. The move if successful would save more than Rs 52,000 crore foreign exchange, spent on importing fertilizers. 

India is working on a three-pronged strategy.

(1) To increase indigenous production of fertilizers.

(2) To encourage farmers to opt for organic and organic farming.

(3) To ask farmers not to use more than the required fertilizers.

To Increase Production

Government is Planing to make an investment of Rs 40,000 crores to set up new units to reduce import dependency. "Further to promote indigenous industries, we are converting all fertilizer companies to gas-based technology. Recently we have revived four urea plants (Ramagundam, Sindhri, Barouni and Gorkhpur) in India. By 2023 we should become self –sufficient in the production of Fertilizers," The Minister said

In the fiscal year 2017-18, India had imported nearly 59 Lakh tones of fertilizer to the tune of around USD 1300 Million. In the fiscal year, the total urea import was to the tune of USD 2100 million for importing about 84 MT of fertilizers. Though the fertilizers import has been continuously reducing for the past few years, the government wants to cut its maximum import Bill in the coming few years to make India self-reliant. He said new Fertilizer units being set up with an investment of 40,000 crore rupees

To encourage farmers to opt for organic and organic farming

Government is encouraging the production of organic and Nano fertilizers in the country. It is Promoting and subsidizing it as organic and nano fertilizers are 25-30 per cent cheaper. It would also give 18 to 35 per cent higher yield and keep the soil in good health. Other than improving soil health, it would also reduce the production cost of the farmers.

In a move to promote Nano fertilizers, IFFCO has distributed free nano fertilizers to 12,000 farmers and agriculture universities across the country. It has received positive feedback from farmers, He Minister said.

To ask farmers not to use more than the required fertilizers

Another area of action for the Ministry is to ask farmers not to use extra fertilizers as it spoils soil health and pollute underground water. In this direction, the Government has already made soil health cards of farmers to tell them which fertilizers they should use. This would reduce the usage of fertilizers by 10 to 20 %.  The Minister urged farmers to use Urea judiciously as excessive use of Urea may spoil the soil health. He advised farmers to use fertilizers according to their soil health cards.

He said the government is committed to making India Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) in true sense. Government has further started using coastal shipping as an additional mode of transportation. For this, the policy for reimbursement of freight subsidy for distribution of subsidized fertilizers through coastal shipping or through inland waterways was announced on last year.

He said in the last fiscal year, 1.14 Lakh metric tonnes of fertilizers have been moved through coastal shipping. On the cost fixation rules for urea units, the Union Government has removed the ambiguities in the Modified NPS (New Pricing Scheme)-III.  This will facilitate smooth implementation of Modified NPS-III and would give an Additional Fixed Cost of Rs.350/MT to 30 Urea units.

 

Another grant of special compensation of Rs. 150/MT to Urea units would be given to more than 30 years old fertilizer units and converted to gas. This move would incentivize these units to remain viable for sustained production. It will also facilitate continued operations of the urea units resulting in the sustained and regular supply of Urea to the farmers, the Minister said.

Fertilizer Situation in India

India today is the third-largest producer of nitrogenous fertilizers in the world only behind China and USA. At present, there are 30 large size units in the country producing urea (as on date 29 are functioning) 21 units produce DAP and complex fertilizers, 5 units produce low analysis straight nitrogenous fertilizers. Besides, there are about 80 small and medium scale units in operation producing single super phosphate (SSP). The total installed capacity of fertilizer production, which was 119.60 LMT of nitrogen and 53.60 LMT of phosphate as on 31.03.2004, has marginally increased to 120.61 LMT of nitrogen and 56.59 LMT of phosphate as on 31.03.2011.

Fertilizer Requirement in India and its forecast.

 

According to the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, agriculture production in the country has increased despite the decreasing are under cultivation. The production of rice has reached 110.15 million metric ton in 2017 and wheat production has reached 98.38 million metric ton from 104.41 million metric ton of rice and 92.29 million metric ton of wheat in 2016. Various Initiatives of Government of India, such as Initiative for pulses by providing subsidy fo quality seeds produced, cluster frontline demonstrations through KVKs and so on are also being undertaken under National Food Securit Mission (NFSM) for increasing the production and the productivity of pulses in the country.

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India invents a cost-effective alternate of COVID-19 medicine Favipiravir, developed by CSIR to be launched soon

Indian premier research Institute, CSIR, has developed a cost-effective process of developing Favipiravir drug in India using locally chemicals to synthesize this Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API). It has transferred the technology to a private company Cipla, which would start its mass-scale production soon.

The off-patent anti-viral drug Favipiravir, originally discovered by Fuji, Japan has shown promise in clinical trials for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, especially the mild and the moderate patients.

The indigenous production of the drug would not only reduce its production but would also make it available in large number in the market. Presently there is an availability problem of the drug and it is also very costly.

Commenting on the development, Director CSIR-IICR, Dr S Chandrashekhar said that the technology provided by CSIR-IICT is very efficient and makes it affordable and allows Cipla to make large quantities of the product within a short span of time.

DG-CSIR, Dr Shekhar C Mande further observed that CSIR is working with industry in developing quick solutions and products for mitigation of Covid-19 and this partnership with Cipla is an example of how CSIR is committed to bringing repurposed drugs on a fast track. 

Cipla has scaled up the process in their manufacturing facility and approached DCGI for permission to launch the product in India. Given that DCGI has given restricted emergency use for Favipiravir in the country, Cipla is now all set to launch the product to help patients suffering from Covid-19, said a senior officer of the Science and Technology. 

About Favipiravir

Favipiravir is an oral antiviral approved for the treatment of influenza in Japan. It selectively inhibits RNA polymerase, which is necessary for viral replication. Japan has commenced with a phase 3 clinical trial. In the United States, a phase 2 trial will enrol approximately 50 patients with COVID-19, in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In India, a phase 3 trial combining 2 antiviral agents, favipiravir and umifenovir, started in May 2020.

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Another blow to China, India makes 'country of origin' marking must on all consumer products, says the New Consumer Protection Act effective from July 20. Tough road for Chinese products as it can not be sold without 'Made in China' Marking.

The New Consumer Protection Act, which comes into effect from July 20, 2020, is likely to hit those selling Chinese products without mentioning the country of Origin. Considering the anger against Chine, it would be very difficult to pitch for 'Make in China' product even if it is cheaper. People would rather prefer to go for other products even if it costs more to their pocket.

The New Consumer Protection Act has further made life difficult for e-commerce companies. Now the e-commerce platforms have to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within forty-eight hours and redress it one month from the date of receipt under this Act. It also has provisions to curb 'unfair practices' normally done by e-commerce companies.

In another provision, the Act has introduced the concept of product liability. According to which the product manufacturer, product service provider and product seller will have to pay any claim or compensation.

In another relief to Consumers, the new act gives freedom to consumers to file complaints electronically and can claim jurisdiction over the place of his residence. The new concept has also introduced videoconferencing for hearing and deemed admissibility of complaints if the question of admissibility is not decided within the specified period of 21 days.

Announcing the enactment of the new Act, Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 empowers consumers, simplifies consumer dispute adjudication process and introduces the concept of product liability.

The new Act would give consumers more control over the quality of goods and services being provided to them by corporations. The Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on July 8, 2019, by the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ram Vilas Paswan. Later it was passed on July 30, 2019, by the Lok Sabha and later cleated by Rajya Sabha on August 6, 2019.

The Act would further empower consumers, help them in protecting their rights through its various notified Rules and provisions including Consumer Protection Councils, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions, Mediation, Product Liability and punishment for manufacture or sale of products containing adulterant, spurious goods said Ram Vilas Paswan through a video conference here on Monday.

He said the Act includes establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) to promote, protect and enforce the rights of consumers.  The CCPA would be empowered to conduct investigations into violations of consumer rights and institute complaints / prosecution.

The CCPA would have authority to recall unsafe goods and services. It can order the discontinuance of unfair trade practices and misleading advertisements. The CCPA would also impose penalties on manufacturers, endorsers, publishers of misleading advertisements.

The Minister said the rules for the prevention of unfair trade practice by e-commerce platforms will also be covered under this Act. The gazette notification for establishment of the Central Consumer Protection Authority and rules for the prevention of unfair trade practice in e-commerce is under publication.

As per the new Act, every e-commerce entity is required to provide information relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance redressal the mechanism, payment methods, the security of payment methods, charge-back options.

Besides, the product has to have  ‘country of origin’ marking which are necessary for enabling the consumer to make an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage on its platform.  He said that e-commerce platforms have to acknowledge the receipt of any consumer complaint within forty-eight hours and redress the complaint within one month from the date of receipt under this Act.

The New Act has introduced the concept of product liability and brings within its scope, the product manufacturer, product service provider and product seller, for any claim for compensation.

Minister said the new Act also simplified the consumer dispute adjudication process in the consumer commissions, which include, among others, empowerment of the State and District Commissions to review their own orders.

The new Act would enable a consumer to file complaints electronically and file complaints in consumer Commissions that have jurisdiction over the place of his residence, videoconferencing for hearing and deemed admissibility of complaints if the question of admissibility is not decided within the specified period of 21 days.

In the act there is also a provision for an Alternate Dispute Resolution mechanism of Mediation, This will simplify the adjudication process.  A complaint would be referred by a Consumer Commission for mediation, wherever scope for early settlement exists and parties agree for it. Mediation would be held in the Mediation Cells to be established under the aegis of the Consumer Commissions.  There will be no appeal against settlement through mediation.

The Minister said as per the Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Rules, there will be no fee for filing cases up to Rs. 5 lakh. There are provisions for filing complaints electronically, credit of amount due to unidentifiable consumers to the Consumer Welfare Fund (CWF).  The State Commissions will furnish information to Central Government on a quarterly basis on vacancies, disposal, the pendency of cases and other matters. 

Under this new Act, besides general rules, there are Central Consumer Protection Council Rules, Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Rules, Appointment of President & Members in State/District Commission Rules, Mediation Rules, Model Rules and E-Commerce Rules and Consumer Commission Procedure Regulations, Mediation Regulations and Administrative control over State Commission & District Commission Regulations.

The Council, which has a three-year tenure, will have Minister-in-charge of consumer affairs from two States from each region- North, South, East, West, and NER. There is also provision for having working groups from amongst the members for specific tasks.

While in the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 there was a single-point access to justice, the new Act included many amendments to provide protection to buyers not only from traditional sellers but also from the new e-commerce retailers/platforms.

Ends.

the writer is Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, the Statesman.

A Tale of two Lockdowns: see how two US cities Philadelphia and St Louis dealt with 1918 flue pandemic. It may also explains why the death rate in India is much less than most of the developed nations.

There have been much hue and cry on what was the benefit of early Lockdown in India, was it unnecessary? Could it have been avoided? Here is a documentary analysis on the benefits of early lockdown that may also explain why India reported less death rate than the world average or than that of developed nations which have better health facilities.

It is interesting to see how two US cities Philadelphia and St Louis handled the world’s worst known recorded pandemic to the word, 1918 flu also known as Spanish flu. It infected about 50 crore people (one-third of the world’s population that time) and killed between 1.7 crore to 5 crore people worldwide.

 

Philadelphia:

It Reported first death of Spanish flue on September 14, 1918 it took no measures for the first 20 days--by but that time it had already 400 daily deaths per million. On October 3, the state announced Lockdown, social distancing, closed schools and churches. But it had lost the battle against Spanish flue which continue to spread exponentially. Within a fortnight death rate reached its peak and reported nearly 2600 deaths per million on October 17-18. After this, it generated herd immunity and reduced substantially and in another on month death rate dropped to almost zero. The flue remained active for two and a half months.

St Louis

It reported its first death on October 4, within 3-4 days, it announced lockdown, asked for social distancing, closed school and churches, and the results were very positive. The death rate in St. Louis never crossed 700 daily death per million—this death rate was almost four times less than Philadelphia. Though the flue remained active for almost three months in St. Louis and curve flattened. A delay in lockdown by nearly 20 days in Philadelphia increased death rate by four times.

Observations:

By delaying lockdown by mere 10-12 days increased the peak death rate by almost four times (2600 deaths per million in Philadelphia, and 700 deaths per million in St Louis). Though it is difficult to say that the lockdown was the only reason… there were many reasons, St Louis (spread in 158 square Km) was less populated density wise, and

Philadelphia had more populated and spread in 367 Square Kms, but still the fact remains that the peak death rate tended to be lower in places that acted early, whereas those that waited a week or more saw higher spikes.

Early lockdown avoid unnecessary stress on Health Infrastructure, less death spike means doctors would get time to handle the cases. Similarly, the earlier cities acted, the lower their total death counts in general. Keeping peaks low likely kept health care systems from getting totally overwhelmed, and therefore enabled them to provide better care to each patient.

But then this is not the end of the story:

St Louis lifted the restrictions early considering that the worst has gone, but they were wrong, the virus hit back with the second wave.

"St. Louis and Denver city in the USA lifted the restrictions early thinking the danger was over. But the flu often rushed back as soon as interventions were lifted. Both cities saw spikes in cases after they lifted their bans. None of the cities that kept their bans in place saw the second wave. In some cases Third-wave as well," observes Popular Science magazine (an American quarterly magazine science magazine for the common man),  in its article "What the 1918 flu pandemic can teach us about COVID-19".

.

In the Indian context:

India had announced its first Lockdown on March 23, when there were nearly daily reporting of 300. On March 223 the world was reporting about 41,000 cases a day and nearly 2200 deaths a day. The lockdown continued till the first week of June--perhaps the longest lockdown for a country with 138 crore population.

In the first week of June, Unlockdown process began. Then the daily deaths were less than 300 and 10,000 new cases every day. Whereas the world was reporting more than 1.14 lakh cases a day, and daily death of about 4300 people.

The daily death figure and reporting of new cases did not stop increasing despite the longest lockdown. Yet the situation is not as bad as we reported in Italy, Spain, UK or USA. It is managing with its dilapidated health infrastructure though not as efficiently as developed nations are doing, 

 Today the daily death toll has reached 600, and daily new cases to 40,000. The situation is still bad and the only silver lining is the better recovering rate and decreasing death toll.

Did Early Lockdown help India?:  

Yes, without any second doubt. 

Look at the death per million in developed cases USA 433/ Million; Spain and UK more than 600/ million; Italy 580/ million; Germany 109 per million. World over average death rate per million is 78.

Considering the fact that India only reports 20 death per million, one can say India’s position is much better than the world. Reasons could be Early lockdown, immunity, awareness, and late entering of Covid-19 the virus in India.

Did India perform better than other countries? 

Certainly not.

Well, we must question the way our government imposed the Lockdown in a hurry without any roadmap and proper discussion with states and health experts.

It could have been more effective and less painful to casual migratory labourers. The worst part of the Lockdown was suffering of poor migratory people who had no place to live, nowhere to go, and hardly anything to eat. It was a blunder of the Modi Government and it would pay its price in the coming elections.

The SOPs (standard operating procedures) was not clearly defined, officers working on the ground zero were mostly confused due to vague instructions from centre and State.

We should also question why effective measures were not taken at International Airports and on strict early checking (After Mid January, February and March) of people visiting India. Probably our policymakers fail to judge the veracity of the pandemic?

Lastly and most importantly, Centre and state governments did not take advantage of Lockdown to prepare itself for the possible increase in COVID-19 cases. Our health system and its COVID-19 preparations are still worse than some developing countries forget the developed nations.

Write is Vijay Thakur, Special Representative, The Statesman, who has covered health, Energy, Agriculture, and Internal security during the past 30 years.