The Nepal Weekly 
January 10, 2023
Chemical fertiliser imported from India under the government-to-government procurement process has started arriving in Nepal since Friday, almost a year after the process for the same had started.
According to Agriculture Inputs Company Limited (AICL), about 5,000 tonnes of urea entered Nepal last week.
Of 30,000 tonnes of fertiliser to be brought in the first phase, 5,500 tonnes of urea entered Nepal from the Birgunj border, informed Rajendra Bahadur Karki, acting managing director of AICL.
Similarly, around 500 tonnes of chemical fertiliser entered from Jogbani border in Biratnagar. According to Karki, the remaining fertiliser is expected to arrive in Nepal in a fortnight. Packing of 22,500 tonnes of fertiliser has already begun at the Kolkata port in India, he added.
Rastriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited (RCF) of India has been supplying the chemical fertiliser to AICL as per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the governments of Nepal and India on February 28, 2022.
However, the final agreement between the state-owned AICL on behalf of the government of Nepal and RCF on behalf of the government of India was signed on July 17, 2022 for the buy and sale of the fertiliser through the G-to-G system.
As per the MoU, India will provide the fertiliser to Nepal through G-to-G for the next five years.”Although delayed, we are successful in bringing fertilisers from India through the G-to-G process. It took a few months to complete the process, making it transparent and effective,” Karki told The Rising Nepal.
According to Karki the fertiliser purchased from India is cheaper than the fertiliser imported through global tender. According to him, the fertiliser was purchased at 768 USD per tonne. “It is 1.947 per cent cheaper (57.77 dollars) than the evaluation returns based on the price of the global tender.”
The purchased fertiliser is transported by the Indian company to the warehouses of the AICL within the 25 kilometres area of the border.
As per the MoU, 150,000 tonnes of fertiliser will be brought in the first year, 170,000 tonnes in the second year, 195,000 tonnes in the third year. Similarly, in the fourth and fifth years, Nepal will purchase 210,000 tonnes as per the agreement with India. However, the first lot of 150,000 tonnes could not be brought and it would be brought in the fifth year.
“This is a significant achievement for Nepal to purchase fertilisers from India through the G-to-G model and improve the supply of chemical fertilisers during the high-demand season,” he said.
According to him, the model of G-to-G signed between the two countries is significantly better than that which was in practice earlier as the supplier will deliver fertilisers to the warehouse of AICL without charging additional amount.
“The process to deliver fertilisers will begin within 30 days after sending the price by the supplier and complete delivery within 50 days. This is a good aspect as we can bring fertiliser in time as per our requirement,” he said.
Due to the provision, the government can purchase chemical fertilisers from India through G-to-G at the time of high demand as it takes more time to import fertiliser through global tender. Every year farmers across the country face the shortage of chemical fertilisers during the paddy plantation season.
