Fertiliser arrears touch Rs 30k cr at end of FY '14

Fertiliser subsidy arrears at the end of 2013-14 are estimated at Rs 30,000 crore, the same as the previous year's level.

The outstanding at the end of 2012-13 was about Rs 30,000 crore, including Rs 22,000 crore carried over from 2011-12.

"About Rs 30,000 crore arrears of fertiliser subsidy till financial year 2013-14 will be carried over to the current fiscal," a source said.

Sources said subsidy arrears at the end of 2013-14 were at the previous year's level mainly due to a 12 per cent decline in urea imports to 7.08 million tonnes (MT) in 2013-14. In 2012-13, the country had imported 8.04 MT of the soil nutrient.

As the fertiliser industry was facing a cash crunch in 2013-14, the government had made available special banking arrangements (SBA)-- Rs 5,500 crore twice and Rs 9,000 crore.

After making payments till July in the last fiscal, the government exhausted urea subsidy allocated for the entire fiscal.