ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Food and Agriculture Nazar Muhammad Gondal informed the National Assembly on Friday that the government will import 0.2 million tonnes of urea fertilizer from Saudi Arabia to offset any shortfall.
Replying to queries during the session, the federal minister said that gas load-shedding has adversely affected urea output which would have to be overcome by imports.
The imported urea will arrive in the country by January 2011, he added. The government will provide a subsidy on imported urea. He added that there will be no subsidy on other fertiliser categories. Gondal said that at present the price of per bag of DAP is between Rs 3100 and 3200, while Urea prices range from Rs 850 to Rs 900.
Industries and Production State Minister Dr Ayatullah Durrani told the House that the prices of urea rose by nine percent on average from June 2009 to June 2010 whilst average prices have increased by 12 percent in the past year.
Similarly, average DAP prices have increased by 36.17 percent from June 2009 to June 2010 whereas retail prices have risen by 5.6 percent from December 2009 to December 2010.
He attributed the increase in prices to inflation, increase in gas tariffs and depreciation in value of Pak rupee. To a question, the state minister said that cost of vehicles relatively cheaper in Pakistan in comparison to India.
He went on to say that there would be multiple investment opportunities in Pakistan after March as the government moves closer to overcoming the energy crisis which had been a major hurdle in attracting investment.
He said that a new industrial policy was under preparation, a draft of which had been placed on the ministry’s website for feedback to ensure that the views of stakeholders are taken on board.
