The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved Rs 62,370 crore as subsidy for the rabi season, up 64% from last year’s allocation of Rs 37,952 crore. The subsidy on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers, including Di-ammonium Phosphate and nitrogen, phosphorus, potash, and sulphur are applicable from October 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.The government said that the special provision to ensure availability of DAP at a fixed price of Rs 1,350 per bag for farmers will continue.The Union Budget for 2026-27, tabled in Parliament earlier this year on February 1, had estimated that the total fertiliser subsidy bill for the year would come in at Rs 1.71 lakh crore, down from Rs 1.86 lakh crore in 2025-26. However, the onset of the war in West Asia just a few weeks after the budget’s presentation threw a spanner in the government’s fiscal math as global fertiliser prices surged due to the energy shock and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.According to latest data from the Controller General of Accounts, the Centre had spent Rs 33,664 crore in the first half of 2026-27 on Nutrient Based Fertilisers subsidy, whose Budget allocation was Rs 54,000 crore.Must Read | Fertiliser sales see sharp dip as El Nino dries up farm demandMeanwhile, Rs 85,586 crore has been spent in April-September 2026 on urea subsidy as against the Budget allocation of Rs 1.17 lakh crore. Put together, Rs 1.19 lakh crore has already been spent on fertliser subsidy in the first half of the fiscal, accounting for almost 70% of the full-year estimate of Rs 1.71 lakh crore.Interestingly, domestic sales of fertilisers have fallen this year, The Indian Express reported last month, on account of poor rainfall. In the first six months of 2026-27, complex fertilisers containing nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and sulphur in different ratios saw the largest sales decline of 22%. The fall has been smaller for DAP (0.6%), while urea sales are down 4% compared to last year.The impact of the El Nino could also impact crop plantings and fertiliser demand for the rabi season.Story continues below this adMeanwhile, the Cabinet on Wednesday also approved the continuation of both, the Stand-Up India Scheme and the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units (CGFMU), for a period of five years until March 2031.The Stand-Up India Scheme extension comes with a corpus of Rs 4,111 crore, while that for the Credit Guarantee Fund for Micro Units is for Rs 5,000 crore, which will provide credit guarantees for loans extended under Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana.Also Read | In fertiliser sales dip, a lesson for policymakers“As on September 2026, more than 60.36 crore loans amounting to Rs 43.34 lakh crore have been sanctioned by lending institutions since launch of PM Mudra Scheme. CGFMU which was launched in January 2016 has acted as a major catalyst in enabling the growth of PMMY loans in the country,” the government said in a statement.The Stand-Up India Scheme aims to promote entrepreneurship among women, Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes. Since it was launched in April 2016, the scheme has helped provide loans to more than 2.75 lakh entrepreneurs.