IFFCO announces hike in fertilizer rates

Farmers won’t have to pay the revised prices as existing stocks of 11.26 lakh metric tonnes of complex fertilisers will be sold at the old rates, says IFFCO chief

India’s largest fertilizer maker IFFCO has effected a sharp hike in fertilizer prices, with as much as a 58.33% hike in the price of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), and its CEO staved off criticism by seeking to delink the move from the government citing ‘decontrolled’ prices and a spurt in global raw material costs. The IFFCO chief however asserted that farmers won’t have to pay the revised prices as existing stocks of 11.26 lakh metric tonnes of complex fertilisers will be sold at the old rates. In fact, he asserted that the new prices were ‘only tentative’ and used for printing on bags for fresh production of fertilisers. “The material with new rates is not for sale to anyone,” IFFCO managing director & CEO U.S. Awasthi said. The new prices are to kick in from April 1, as per the memo revising maximum retail prices of different products sent out by the co-operative firm’s marketing services department on April 7.