New Delhi : The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers will hold three meetings next week to discuss a case study on the Indian wood panel industry, evaluation and monitoring of fertiliser subsidy and innovation schemes, and issues surrounding generic versus branded medicines.
The first meeting, scheduled for September 7 at 11 am in the Parliament House premises, will focus on the Indian wood panel industry. It will include a half-hour presentation by the Pahlè India Foundation (PIF) on “Diversion of Subsidised Agricultural Urea into the Industry in India: A Case Study on the Indian Wood Panel Industry.” This session occurs nearly three months after the PIF released a white paper and presentation on June 9 highlighting the illegal diversion of heavily subsidised neem-coated agricultural urea, intended for crop nutrition, into a black market for industrial use.
The PIF’s report emphasises that the Indian wood panel sector, which includes manufacturers of plywood, particle boards and medium-density fibreboard (MDF), relies predominantly on urea-formaldehyde resins as a primary adhesive. It points out that the significant price difference between government-subsidised agricultural urea sold at a fraction of the cost to farmers and the market price of technical-grade industrial urea incentivises unauthorised diversion. This practice results in subsidy leakage, unfair competition for compliant micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and supply chain vulnerabilities for chemical inputs.
The second meeting, starting at 11:30 am, will feature a briefing by representatives of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Department of Fertilisers, on the “Evaluation and monitoring of Fertiliser Subsidy Schemes as well as Fertiliser Innovation Schemes.”
The third meeting, scheduled for 2:30 pm, will comprise a briefing from the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Department of Pharmaceuticals, on “Generic versus branded medicines with special reference to awareness and trust deficit.” These sessions will facilitate detailed discussions on sectoral operations and policy considerations.
The Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers is one of 24 departmentally related standing committees serviced by the Lok Sabha Secretariat. The committee includes 31 members: 21 nominated from the Lok Sabha by its Speaker and 10 from the Rajya Sabha by its Chairman. The committee’s term is one year from its constitution date.
The committee’s jurisdiction covers three departments under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers: Department of Fertilisers, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, and Department of Pharmaceuticals. Kirti Azad, Member of Parliament from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), chairs the committee.
The committee’s responsibilities include considering Demands for Grants of the three Departments and reporting to the Houses; examining bills referred by the Rajya Sabha Chairman or Lok Sabha Speaker related to these Departments and reporting thereon; reviewing annual reports of the Ministry; and considering national basic long-term policy documents referred to it, providing reports to the Houses as required.
