New Delhi, Jan 12 (PTI) Fertilisers Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya on Thursday stressed on the need to promote consumption of indigenous fertiliser Single Superphosphate (SSP) in order to achieve self-sufficiency in phosphatic fertilisers.

Currently, Di-ammonium phosphate popularly known as DAP is the second most consumed fertiliser after urea in the country. It is largely imported.

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"We need to make the country self-sufficient in fertilisers. By promoting SSP, we can achieve self-sufficiency in phosphoric fertilisers," Mandaviya told PTI on the sidelines of an event 'SSP Industry - the way forward' organised by Fertiliser Association of India (FAI).

To boost production of SSP in the coming years, the government has given import relaxation for rock phosphate. The government also plans to encourage domestic reserves of rock phosphate for making SSP fertiliser, for which an inter-ministerial task force will be set up, he said.

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Representatives from ministries of Mining, fertiliser and industries as well as state governments will be part of the task force, he added.

The minister mentioned that the current domestic consumption of SSP is about 50 lakh tonne which should be increased to 100 lakh tonne in the next three years, for which domestic capacity utilisation has to be raised from the present level of 54 per cent.

During the event, the minister discussed the concerns of the industry and extended support for promotion of SSP.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)