New Delhi: Despite opposition from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other allies, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh on March 1 virtually ruled out any rollback of the fertiliser price hike in the Budget saying it would not affect drought-hit farmers.

"There are some concerns raised over fertiliser prices over the issue of 1-2 per cent hike in prices. Of the total tapestry of the Budget, to pluck a single thread will be unfair to the entire structure of the Budget," he said in an interview the day after his Budget presentation.

Pooh-poohing the criticism from the political parties that fertiliser prices have been hiked in a drought, Singh said, "It can't be linked to drought because fertilisers are not used by rain-fed cultivators. It is used mainly in irrigated land."

Concerned over the burgeoning subsidy bill at Rs 50,000 crore, Singh said food subsidy alone accounted for Rs 28,000 crore, while fertiliser subsidy amounted to Rs 12,700 and petroleum subsidy Rs 9,000 crore.

Regarding the huge fertiliser subsidy, he said the question was whether the subsidy was actually reaching farmers or going to the fertiliser factories.

Fertiliser subsidy should go to the right place, he said, adding that after all the hike in prices was just 1-2 per cent, which was nothing when compared to the total subsidy bill.

Asserting that the Budget has done quite a lot to boost agriculture, Singh said, "The amount that has gone to agriculture, plantation and the like was enormous."

PTI