Oneindia's Pankaj Mishra interviews Vlada Galan, partner at Oracle International, on India's response to the Russia-Ukraine war's impact on global fertilizer supplies. The Modi government's massive subsidies have shielded farmers from price shocks, prioritizing food security over other developmental areas. India has also strengthened ties with Russia to ensure fertilizer supply. Long-term strategies include boosting domestic production, promoting sustainable farming, and investing in infrastructure to reduce import dependency and build a more resilient agricultural sector.
#GlobalFoodSecurity #IndiaFertilizerStrategy #GeopoliticalImpact #AgriculturalResilience #UkraineRussiaWar #PMModi
~HT.97~PR.282~PR.320~ED.155~
#GlobalFoodSecurity #IndiaFertilizerStrategy #GeopoliticalImpact #AgriculturalResilience #UkraineRussiaWar #PMModi
~HT.97~PR.282~PR.320~ED.155~
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00:00Hello and welcome to yet another brand new episode on One India. Today we are discussing
00:05the international scenario that is developing vis-a-vis the war between Russia and Ukraine
00:14and how India is navigating its path as far as the fertilizer dependence and the fertilizer
00:21subsidies are concerned. To discuss that further, it's my pleasure to be joined by Vladakhalan,
00:27International Political Strategist and President and Chairman of the Board of
00:30International Ukrainian Crisis Fund and partner at Oracle International. Vladakhalan,
00:36welcome to One India. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.
00:40Thanks, Vladakhalan. Vladakhalan, first things first, today we are meeting to understand that
00:46as an international political strategist, how do you assess India's approach of using
00:53massive fertilizer subsidies to shield its farmers from the global price shocks?
00:59What potential long-term impacts do you foresee from this strategy on India?
01:04Well, you know, just in general, India has always continued to be a large, large consumer when it
01:14comes to fertilizers, and it's the third largest fertilizer buyer. Now, with what has happened
01:22with the conflict in Ukraine and, you know, the withdrawal of Russia and Ukraine from food markets
01:33coupled with the Black Sea region, what's happening in the Black Sea region, the blockade,
01:38which is actually a region I'm originally from, it's significantly impacted global food security.
01:46So this naturally has, you know, a serious effect internationally, and fertilizer will play a large
01:53part in that. This has had a massive rocket impact on when it comes to prices of things like
01:59fertilizer. And the average Indian farmer has certainly felt that. And India has realized
02:08that it needs to kind of ramp up internal production and really cannot continue to depend
02:14internationally on, you know, these high imports. And so that has had a huge impact when it comes
02:21to, you know, the Indian farmer. You know, it's affected costs greatly. So the consumption of
02:28conventional urea has generally gone down in India now, and sales of locally produced
02:34nano urea have really increased. So it's made a massive impact on the Indian farmer when it
02:40comes to pricing this new scheme that the government has put into place, where 50% of the
02:46fertilizer subsidies, you know, are given back in grant form, which can go to other projects. I mean,
02:51some of these steps that have been taken have a massive impact on costs for the average farmer
02:57and create a huge impact when it comes to them. It certainly helps to keep those costs at bay
03:03and does make a difference for the production of the average farmer.
03:07Indeed, Plata. Indeed, you are right when you mentioned about India's steps that have been
03:12taken for self-reliance there. But India has increased its imports of Russian and Ukrainian
03:18fertilizers alike, despite geopolitical tensions. How do you view this diplomatic
03:23balancing act and what implications might it have for India's international relations?
03:30Well, India in general has actually urea imports specifically have fallen. I think the figure was
03:38almost a million between last year. But, you know, it's undeniable that India has depended on
03:45Russian fertilizer for years. You know, that's undeniable. But I think a lot of the impacts and
03:52efforts that Prime Minister Modi has made to really ramp up things like the nano urea,
03:58that's going to make a huge difference in the long run. But it's undeniable that India depends
04:05on Russia, you know, for many things. I mean, when it comes to oil, when it comes to fertilizer,
04:10sure. But it's really interesting to note that that also is what gives India an interesting
04:17sense of leverage when it comes to Russia, because they are such a large importer of
04:22certain Russian products. And that is why India has such a geopolitical importance,
04:28because when they come to the table, they are seen as the trusted broker between the
04:33two countries when it comes even at looking at a potential kind of further dialogue.
04:38Absolutely, Vlada. And one final aspect that I wanted to touch upon is very close to India,
04:45very close to any country which is bearing the brunt of a broken supply chain. The Modi
04:52government has had to make trade-offs between fertilizer subsidies and other developmental
04:58areas like job creation and social welfare programs, because the money that was being
05:03used to buy commodities from these war-torn countries, ultimately India had to pay from
05:09its pocket, maybe compromising other aspects of development. In your opinion, how might this
05:16impact India's overall economic growth and social development in the coming years from
05:22a third-person point of view? Well, the government's strategy to reduce imports in general,
05:28that two-pronged approach of increasing production of urea domestically and enhancing usage of
05:34nano-urea has certainly been interesting. But I think it's the Pranam scheme, the scheme
05:42of the subsidies that are saved by the state 50% and given back as a grant, some of this is
05:48actually can be used to build infrastructure. And I think this strong push to put a focus on
05:54producing urea locally, nano-urea, actually can certainly help in job creation. But everything
06:00is a trade-off. Of course, there are things that will be an economic hit for a short period of
06:06time. But the long-run implications of some of these schemes actually can be quite beneficial.
06:12But the devil is in the details and in the execution. It's very important to understand
06:17how this is actually going to be executed over time. And that's what's going to be very interesting
06:23to watch, if some of those subsidies that are saved by the state, given back as a grant,
06:29actually do go into infrastructure, or they don't and end up disappearing in various other budget
06:35details. So that's going to be very interesting to keep an eye on. And I think the Indian people
06:40have a job to keep the Prime Minister accountable when it comes to this and the party accountable
06:45when it comes to this, to make sure that in the long run, these things actually do end up helping
06:50infrastructure and jobs. So there you heard it from Vlada Galan, International Political
06:54Strategist and President and Chairman of the Board of International Ukrainian Crisis Fund
07:00and partner at Oracle International. Thank you, Vlada, for joining us.
07:04Thank you so much for having me.