Fertiliser shares slump as govt defers decision

The fertiliser stocks got hammered on Thursday, with some ofthem shedding as much as over 6 per cent on BSE, as the government deferred itsdecision to decontrol urea prices.

Disappointed by the delay on deregulation of urea prices, Chambal Fertilisers& Chemicals witnessed a decline of 6.68 per cent at Rs 80.95 a share in themorning trade.

On Wednesday, a group of ministers (GoM) headed by the Finance Minister PranabMukherjee, decided to refer the issue of decontrolling urea, which constituteshalf of India's total fertiliser consumption, to a committee of secretaries.

Reacting to the news, shares of another company National Fertlizers tanked by5.98 per cent to Rs 110 a piece on Bombay Stock Exchange.

Other major losers in the fertiliser pack included Nagarjuna Fertilizers andChemicals (down 5.07 per cent), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (down3.58 per cent) and GSFC (1.36 per cent).

The government had introduced the nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) scheme in April2010, decontrolling potassic and phosphatic fertilisers, but kept its controlon price and movement of urea-based fertilisers.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex was trading at 20,217.19 at 10.59 am, down by83.91 points from its previous close.