Kathmandu, June 13

The government has decided to purchase fertilisers from India under government-to-government (G2G) modality.

A Cabinet meeting recently gave the nod to the proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development to import fertilisers from India under the G2G modality in a bid to ensure easy import and supply of fertilisers from the southern neighbour.

As India is the major supplier of fertilisers to Nepal, supply disruption due to any cause often results in crisis of fertilisers in the country, thereby affecting the entire agriculture sector. However, supply of fertilisers under the government-to-government modality with India will avoid the possible shortage of different types of fertilisers in any season, as per Yubak Dhoj GC, secretary at MoALMC.

However, GC also informed that the government will also import urea through global tender as per necessity.

In July last year, the government had sent a proposal to the Indian government expressing interest to purchase 935,000 tonnes of fertilisers over the next five fiscal years under the ‘government-to-government’ scheme.

The government has projected that the country would require almost 1.9 million tonnes of fertilisers over the next five years, of which it plans to purchase 935,000 tonnes from India.

Under its plan, the government will purchase 150,000 tonnes of fertilisers from India in the current fiscal year, 170,000 tonnes in fiscal 2019-20, 195,000 tonnes in fiscal 2020-21 and 210,000 tonnes each in 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years.

Of the total amount of fertilisers being purchased from India over the next five fiscal years, 565,000 tonnes would be urea and 370,000 tonnes will be diammonium phosphate (DAP).