Government Denies Permission for Procurement of Chemical Fertilizers

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Government Denies Permission for Procurement of Chemical Fertilizers

August 20: Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development has denied permission to the concerned state-owned corporations to issue tender notice for the purchase of chemical fertilisers, thereby delaying the procurement process.

The ministry denied permission to the Salt Trading Corporation and Krishi Samagri Company from issuing tender bids for the purchase of fertilizers in current fiscal year.

The ministry should have given permission to these two corporations by mid-August to procure fertilizers for the second quarter of the current fiscal year. But the corporations have not received approval from the ministry so far.

This is expected to cause shortage of chemical fertilizers during the wheat planting season later in the year.

Spokesperson of Salt Trading Corporation Kumar Raj Bhandari informed New Business Age that the process of procuring chemical fertilizers has been affected due to the delay in government granting permission for the purchase.

“We have sought permission from the ministry to issue tender notice time and again but the ministry has ignored our plea,” said Bhandari.

Salt Trading Corporation has been authorized to purchase 30 percent of fertilizers and Krishi Samagri Company 70 percent on behalf of the government. They then sell the fertilziers to the farmers at subsidized rate.

Salt Trading has received permission to purchase 30,000 metric tons of Urea, 40,000 metric tons of DAP and  5,000 metric tons of Potassium for the first quarter of the current fiscal year.

Meanwhile, chief of Krishi Samagri Company Netra Bhandari also confirmed that the ministry has denied permission for issuing tender for the purchase of fertilizers for the second quarter.

On the other hand, secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development Rajendra Prasad Bhari told New Business Age that he was not aware about the delay in granting permission to the corporations for purchasing fertilizers.

However, spokesperson at the ministry Dr Hari Bahadur KC said that the guidelines for subsidized fertilizers is in the process of being approved, causing delay in granting permission for the procurement.

 

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