References to urea prices in India and Myanmar have been made. The government of India has been providing subsidy to farmers through a scheme called Retention Pricing Scheme (RPS). A factory price commonly known as retention price is fixed for products manufactured by a unit based on prescribed efficiency norms with regard to capacity utilisation and consumption of raw materials and utilities. The pricing mechanism allows for a post-tax return of 12% on net worth. The excess of the retention price over the net realisation from selling at the controlled price to the farmer (consumer price-distribution margin) is reimbursed to the manufacturers by the government of India to both SOE and private manufacturers.

Fixation of price at Tk.7000 per ton i.e. at cost price will not save the urea manufacturers. It is really a bold and correct decision. The producers should be allowed some profit either in the form of price or subsidy from the government of Bangladesh so that they can carry out maintenance and replacement of worn out equipment. Urea manufacturing is a complicated, sophisticated and very high-pressure technology. Severe fatal accidents have occurred in different parts of the world. Fortunately, we have good safety records. But prolongation of the present condition may cause such fatal accidents.

There are two urea factories. One is Natural Gas Fertilizer Factory, Fenchuganj, Sylhet, and the other one is Polash Urea Factory. The yearly production of these factories is only 2.6 lac ton. The processes of both these factories are obsolete. These types of factories were closed many years ago considering wastage of precious energy. Our valuable gas is wasted. It is, in the interest of the nation, necessary to close down the factories and install new factories, like CUFL, JFCL or Kafco.

Using the infrastructure, a new factory in each site with an annual capacity of 5,17,000 MT at a cost less than half the price of a new factory can be built. In Indonesia, six factories of the same design, capacity and processes were installed in the government Sector. Their design and engineering cost became zero after the first factory. So, by installing new factories in our sites, surplus electric power can be supplied to the national grid or private customers. The two factories in question are also polluting both Kushiara and Sitalakha rivers.

A very bad decision was made by the last government in prohibiting manufacture and marketing of single super phosphate (SSP) in the private sector on the plea that farmers were cheated over DAP and TSP. This was an unwise move. In India, more than 6.5 million tons of SSP are produced and marketed as powder. China, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries have been using SSP in huge quantities. A few entrepreneurs submitted proposals but could not proceed because of this unreasonable and unrealistic prohibition. The technology of SSP is simple, not capital intensive; and low-grade phosphate rocks can be easily used. High-grade rock phosphate for manufacturing phosphoric acid, DAP and TSP has depleted all over the world and as such has become very expensive. SSP is the most economical alternative.

Private entrepreneurs should be allowed to manufacture and market the same in the form of powder. SSP is not only a phosphatic fertilizer but alsocontains other plant nutrients like sulphur and calcium which do not exist in other forms of phosphatic fertilizers. This is a very good fertiliser for Rabi crops and vegetables. Introduction of SSP will reduce the consumption of urea and will increase productivity of agro-products.