Govt goes for AI-based weather forecasting for agriculture (See 'Corp Brief') India partners with Iceland for sustainable Blue Growth (See 'Corp Brief') Ministry of Coal hosts Roadshow on Coal Gasification-Surface and Underground Technologies (See 'Corp Brief') Reddy inaugurates IBM's Regional Office in Ranchi (See 'Corp Brief') Insurance Surety Bonds for NHAI Contracts Crosses Rs. 10,000 Crore Landmark (See 'Corp Brief') 56th GST Council decisions to benefit both Coal Producers and Consumers (See 'Corp Brief') Railways begins loading of Fresh Apples for Delhi Market (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Purposes of disclosure is to bring about transparency in transactions and assist Regulator to effectively monitor transactions in market: SEBI (See 'Legal Desk') RM virtually flags-off Tri-service all-women circumnavigation sailing expedition (See 'Corp Brief') DFS Secy chairs meeting to discuss issues related to Infrastructure Sector (See 'Corp Brief') India sustains major gains in Malaria reduction, aims for elimination by 2030 (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - Retrospective directions given without notice cannot be sustained: SAT (See 'Legal Desk') GST Reforms in Mining Sector to boost Housing and Small-scale Enterprises (See 'Corp Brief') 'Adi Sanskriti' - A Digital Learning Platform for Tribal Artforms launched (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - No cause of action arises merely from filing trademark application: HC (See 'Legal Desk') MoS chairs 14th Pension Adalat at Vigyan Bhawan (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Liability of Guarantor and Principal Borrower does not always need to be same: NCLT (See 'Legal Desk') Giriraj Singh highlights transformative outcomes of Next-Gen GST Reforms (See 'Corp Brief') Coal India Limited and NSTFDC Sign MoU to Empower Tribal Students through Eklavya Model Residential Schools (See 'Corp Brief') Chouhan, Rekha Gupta formally inaugurate SARAS Livelihood Fair (See 'Corp Brief') NSTFDC & Coal India ink MoU to empower 30,000 Tribal Students with Digital Learning (See 'Corp Brief') Scope of Social Security to expand with SPREE-2025 and AMNESTY Scheme (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Writ court can't substitute its subjective view with respect to aspects such as deceptive similarity, once Commercial Court has taken view in that regard, unless such view is found to be palpably erroneous: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CCI okays buy of Dana Incorporated's off-highway business by Allison Transmission (See 'Corp Brief') IEPFA hosts Conference on 'Unlocking Potential of Idle Financial Assets' (See 'Corp Brief') NCEL, APEDA sign MoU to boost cooperative-led agricultural exports (See 'Corp Brief') iDEX-DIO, EdCIL India ink MoU to develop dual-use tech under new ASPIRE program (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Infringement can arise from any acts of making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing patented product without consent, and marketers and sellers are equally liable: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Ministry of Minority Affairs concludes 5th Edition of Lok Samvardhan Parv in Kochi (See 'Corp Brief') GST reforms to empower Youth, Promote Fitness and Enhance Ease of Living (See 'Corp Brief') SARFAESI - If Legal representative of deceased guarantor has inherited property in question, then liability of deceased guarantor to repay debt shall fall upon representative who were party to DRT proceedings: HC (See 'Legal Desk') NTH offers Drone Certification at Industry's lowest Fee of Rs.4.2 Lakh (See 'Corp Brief') Scindia to lead Indian Delegation at Universal Postal Congress in Dubai (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Defendant's continued use of 'IMS Young Achievers' after termination of its agreement with plaintiff amounted to trademark infringement & passing off: HC (See 'Legal Desk') DRDO organises conclave for capacity building of MSMEs (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Suppression must be deliberate, material, and of high degree to warrant vacating ad-interim relief: HC (See 'Legal Desk') MoS pledges support for '#GarvSeSwadeshi', reaffirming govt's commitment to Atmanirbhar (See 'Corp Brief') IBC - Once there is no variance inter se between Defendants, then Sec 133 of Contract Act does not come into play and Plaintiff cannot seek discharge of its liability under unconditional bank guarantee issued in favour of beneficiary: HC (See 'Legal Desk') ICGEB New Delhi commemorated first anniversary of BioE3 Policy (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Delay in filing and refiling appeals cannot be condoned due to lack of bona fide: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Board to Report what's Right what's Not (See CORP EINSICHT)

Potassium derived from Molasses can be used by farmers: Minister

Published: Feb 05, 2025

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, FEB 05, 2025: POTASSIUM Derived from Molasses (PDM) is a by-product of sugar industry. PDM has minimum 14.5% potash and can be used by farmers in field as an alternative to MOP (Muriate of Potash with 60% potash content). Thus, PDM can reduce the dependence on imported potash. PDM was notified under Fertilizer Control Order (1985) in 2009, and in order to incentivize the use of PDM, it was inducted under Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme since Rabi, 2022. During 2024-25, Rs. 345 per tonne of subsidy has been fixed for PDM.

Potash and Glauconite(Potassic mineral) have been classified as Critical and Strategic Minerals under "The Mines & Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment (MMDR) Act, 2023" by Ministry of Mines which aims to enhance domestic production and achieve self- sufficiency in critical minerals. MMDR Act, 1957 ensure that critical minerals are produced, processed, and recycled by catalyzing investments from governments and the private sector across the full value chain, emphasizing the importance of sustainable and responsible mineral management practices. The Central Government has also commenced the auction of mineral blocks for critical & strategic minerals as per provisions of MMDR Act, 1957. As on 10.12.2024, Ministry of Mines have successfully auctioned 5 mineral blocks of Glauconite(Potassic mineral).

Chemical sector is broadly de-regulated and delicensed sector. The manufacturing, import, export, transportation etc. of Ammonium Nitrate are being regulated by Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012. Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO) issues licenses for manufacture, storage, transportation, import and export of Ammonium Nitrate under these rules. The licenses for manufacturing of Ammonium Nitrate are issued based on Industrial Licenses issued by Department of Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT).

 In Budget 2024-25, Basic Custom Duty (BCD) on Ammonium Nitrate has been increased from 7.5% to 10% to support existing and new capacities in pipeline. Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR), Department of Commerce provides a level playing platform to the domestic industry against the adverse impact of the unfair trade practices viz. dumping, actionable subsidies, circumvention etc. from any exporting country by using effective Trade Remedial measures such as anti-dumping and safeguard measures. However, currently, there are no pending applications seeking  protection in terms of import barriers like anti-dumping duty or countervailing duty/anti-subsidy duty on Ammonium Nitrate.

The Government has approved the Market Development Assistance (MDA) @ Rs. 1500/MT to promote organic fertilizers, i.e. manure produced at plants under GOBARdhan initiative covering different Biogas/CBG support schemes/programmes of stakeholder Ministries/Departments such as Sustainable Alternative Towards Affordable Transportation (SATAT) scheme of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), ‘Waste to Energy' programme of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE), Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) of Department of Drinking Water & Sanitation (DDWS), etc. with total outlay of Rs. 1451.84 crore (FY 2023-24 to 2025-26), which includes a corpus of Rs. 360 crore for research gap funding, etc.

Further, Institute of Pesticides Formulation and Technology works on supporting adoption of greener technologies and development of user & environment friendly new pesticide formulations. UNIDO FARM (Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management) Project undertaken by HIL (India) Ltd. to detoxify the agriculture sector by eliminating the use of highly hazardous pesticides and Persistent Organic Pollutants. The project focuses on three types of bio-pesticides: Btk (Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki), Neem, and Trichoderma spp. Btk, a strain of the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, which is e?ective for controlling caterpillar pests, while Neem controls a wide range of insect pests. Trichoderma provides e?ective control against soil-borne fungal diseases and enhances plant growth.

This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Anupriya Patel in Rajya Sabha in written reply to a question yesterday.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES