Ludhiana, Feb. 6 -- A joint team of agriculture officials and Dakha police carried out a surprise inspection at Arya Industries, a plywood factory located in Ranke village, and seized agriculture-grade (subsidised) urea being used illegally in the manufacturing process.

Chief agriculture officer Gurdeep Singh said the inspection revealed that the factory had been using urea meant exclusively for agricultural purposes. He explained that agriculture-grade urea is supplied to farmers at highly subsidised rates by the central government and is strictly meant for crop use. "The factory was misusing subsidised urea for industrial production, thereby availing undue benefit of the subsidy and causing financial loss to both the government and the...