Siddaramaiah urges Centre to supply 1.65 lakh tonne of urea to Karnataka
Bengaluru, Jul 25 (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday urged the union government to expedite the supply of 1.65 lakh tonne of urea to the state, citing concerns over growing distress among farmers due to fertiliser shortage.
In a letter addressed to Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers J P Nadda, Siddaramaiah pointed out that although the Centre had allocated 11.17 lakh tonne of urea for Karnataka for the ongoing Kharif season, the state has received only 5.16 lakh tonne so far, against a projected requirement of 6.8 lakh tonne by July.
"I request you to direct the concerned officers to expedite the supply of the shortfall of 1,65,541 metric tonnes of urea, as per the state’s allocation, in the interest of our farmers," the CM stated in the letter, which he also shared on his official 'X' handle.
Siddaramaiah noted that some fertiliser companies have expressed their inability to supply urea as per the Government of India’s allocation. He further highlighted that an early monsoon and increased acreage under cultivation—particularly in command areas of the Tungabhadra, Cauvery, and Krishna basins—have led to a surge in demand.
"The area under maize, a fertiliser-intensive crop, has increased by nearly two lakh hectares, while the area under pulses has declined compared to previous years," he said. Additionally, around 13,000 hectares of pre-Kharif land had to be resown.
The CM said that the urea shortage is creating unrest among the farming community.
Responding to Siddaramaiah’s post, the Department of Fertilisers stated on ‘X’ that it has already ensured timely and adequate availability of 8.73 lakh metric tonne of urea to Karnataka—well above the pro-rata requirement of 6.30 lakh metric tonne for the ongoing Kharif 2025 season.
Karnataka's farmers are facing a severe shortage of Urea.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 25, 2025
Against our requirement of 6.8 lakh MT from April to July, only 5.1 lakh MT has been supplied by the Union Govt. Early monsoons and expanded crop coverage have spiked demand, creating unrest among farmers.
I have urged… pic.twitter.com/7HqpOIfFM9
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Pune airport runway restored after IAF aircraft snag; ops resume
Pune (PTI): The runway at Pune airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational, the Air Force said on Saturday.
The authorities at the Pune International Airport had earlier said that around 10.25 pm on Friday, a fighter aircraft experienced an undercarriage failure during landing, causing the runway to be blocked.
As many as 91 flights of airlines, including IndiGo, Air India, SpiceJet, Akasa, and Air India Express, were affected due to the incident, they said.
Earlier on Friday night, the Air Force had stated that the runway at Pune airport was temporarily unavailable following an incident involving one of its fighter aircraft. The aircrew are safe, and there is no damage to civil property, it had said.
"The runway at Pune Airport, which was temporarily unavailable due to an incident involving an Indian Air Force aircraft, has now been restored and declared operational. All necessary safety inspections and clearances have been completed. Operations are resuming in a phased manner," it said in a post on X.
Flight operations at Pune airport are being gradually restored. The situation has been brought under control with the highest priority given to the safety of citizens, a Defence PRO said.
