Sept 28: In an exclusive interview to The Indian Express, Barnala said the BJP-led government could not afford to cut down the subsidy bill as it is committed to doubling the foodgrain output in the country in the next 10 years. Any effort in increasing the foodgrain output will have to be achieved only by maintaining the health of the fertiliser industry. According to Barnala, frequent changes like the one in the case of DAP pricing would send adverse signals to the fertiliser industry which has a key role to play in the doubling of the foodgrain output.Barnala said the Government was still in the process of finalising the fertiliser pricing policy and taking a final view on the recommendations of the Hanumantha Rao Committee submitted to the Government earlier this year. ``The fertiliser sector is so large and the problems so complex that we have to keep in mind the interests of both the industry and the farmers before taking any decision on the pricing of these products,'' Barnalaexplained.When questioned if asking the Prime Minister to intervene on the issue of the Agriculture Ministry's unilateral decision to reverse its earlier policy and announce fresh prices for the phosphatic and potassic fertilisers indicated that the matter was very serious, Barnala stated that he had asked for the PM's intervention as the Agriculture portfolio had been retained by the PM himself.Barnala also said the Government was seriously planning to create an industrial climate conducive for increasing the production capacities in the country as increased and balanced used of fertilisers would be crucial to enhance the food security of the country in an environment where land under cultivation was stagnant and output needed to be pushed up.The minister was categorical that any policy that the Government would work out would include deliberations with the industry which will have to be given an opportunity to express their views. He said that consultations with the industry in this regard were inprogress and the government would finalise a policy at the earliest.When questioned that in the field of fertilisers two major fiascoes - roll back in the prices of urea in the Budget earlier and now reversing the free float in the prices of potassic and phosphatic fertilisers - showed a lack of coordination on the part of the Government, Barnala replied that this was not so. `` There is no lack of coordination, it is just that the Finance Minister had the problem of reducing the subsidy burden and thought this could be best tackled by increasing urea prices somewhat, but later found out that there was stiff resistance to the move owing to the impact it would have on farmers and agreed to the consensus opinion,'' he explained.
