In a major relief to farmers, government on Monday said it would continue with the fertiliser subsidy regime and a restructuring of the mechanism was in offing, Finance Minister P Chidambaram told Parliament while presenting the Budget for 2005-06.

The estimated burden on fertiliser subsidy stands at Rs 16,254 crore (Rs 162.54 billion), he said.

He said procurement of foodgrains would be decentralised, especially in the non-traditional states.

However, the proposed decentralised procurement system would not affect the Minimum Support Price mechanism currently in operation, Chidambaram added.