The draft policy, after announcement, would be available on Internet andalso be sent to the concerned government departments and industry andfarmers' associations for their comments, Prabhu said addressing the secondmeeting of the managing committee of PHD Chambers of Commerce andIndustry.

The government wanted to have a proper fertiliser policy as early aspossible, he said adding about two to three weeks time could be given forcomments.

The policy would aim for total decontrol of the fertilisers sector in thelong run and set a time-frame to achieve the target, the minister said.

Prabhu said recommendations of the Hanumantha Rao committee on fertiliserpricing and views of the industry would be taken into account whileformulating the policy.

However, the recommendation of the committee regarding natural gas asfeedstock for fertiliser industry could not be taken fully into account dueto shortage of this fuel in the country.

The Hanunantha Rao committee had recommended that all fertiliser unitsshould ultimately switch over to natural gas from the present feedstock ofnaphtha to reduce cost of production and improve efficiency.

Prabhu said sufficient availability of natural gas for the fertiliser sectorin the country was in doubt. Therefore, a new fertiliser policy could not bebased on the feedstock policy which essentially talk about natural gas asfeedstock for all units.

There was a need to promote use of bio-fertilisers in the country, he said,adding this aspect would be an important part of the new fertiliser policy.The minister, however, made it clear that everything would not be left tomarket forces, at least in the short run, and issues such as food securityand farmers' interests would be the topmost priority of the government.

On potasic fertilisers which is currently being imported in the country, theminister said the government would extend all possible assistance to theentrepreneurs setting up joint ventures abroad for manufacturing muriate ofpotash (MoP).

No manufacturer in the country produces MoP as the requisite raw material isnot available in the country. At present,the entire demand of MoP is beingmet in the country through imports.