One Nation One Fertiliser

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What is One Nation One Fertiliser(ONOF)?

• Under the new initiative, both public and private sector companies will be required to sell subsidised fertilisers under a single brand name, for example, BHARAT UREA or BHARAT DAP.
• The new brand name, along with a logo of the renamed scheme  Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna (Prime Minister’s Public Fertiliser Scheme) or PM-BJP will cover two-thirds of the front of new fertiliser bags. 
• The remaining space on the front will display information about the manufacturer, including name, logo, address and other statutory information.
• Under the ONOF scheme, companies are allowed to display their name, brand, logo and other relevant product information only on one-third space of their bags. 

The government’s argument for introducing this scheme-

The government’s logic for introducing a single ‘Bharat’ brand for all subsidised fertilisers being marketed by companies is as follows:

• The maximum retail price of urea is currently fixed by the government, which compensates companies for the higher cost of manufacturing or imports incurred by them. 
• The MRPs of non-urea fertilisers are, on paper, decontrolled. But companies cannot avail of subsidy if they sell at MRPs higher than that informally indicated by the government. 
• Simply put, there are some 26 fertilisers (inclusive of urea), on which government bears subsidy and also effectively decides the MRPs;
• The government also decides where they can sell. This is done through the Fertiliser (Movement) Control Order, 1973. 
• Under this, the department of fertilisers draws an agreed monthly supply plan on all subsidised fertilisers in consultation with manufacturers and importers.
•  This supply plan is issued before the 25th of each month for the following month, with the department also regularly monitoring movement to ensure fertiliser availability as per requirement, including remote areas.
• The government is spending vast sums of money on fertiliser subsidy (the bill is likely to cross Rs 200,000 crore in 2022-23), plus deciding where and at what price companies can sell.

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