Representative image showing import of items.
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: India imported 18.65 lakh tonne urea and 22.58 lakh tonne phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers from China during 2023-24, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilisers Anupriya Patel said, "Government of India through Department of Fertilizers imports urea (agriculture purpose) on government account to bridge the gap between production and assessed demand." As per the data, the country imported 70.42 lakh tonne urea in 2023-24 for USD 2.6 billion. Of this, India imported 18.65 lakh tonne urea from China valuing USD 730 million.
"So far as P&K fertilizers are concerned, these grades of fertilizers are covered under Open General Licence (OGL) under the Nutrient Based Subsidy Scheme (NBS). They are imported by the companies on their commercially viable terms," Patel said.
The value of imported P&K fertilizers is not maintained in the department.
India imported a total of 106.53 lakh tonne P&K fertilisers in 2023-24, of which 22.58 lakh tonne came from China.
"In order to attain self-sufficiency in urea in the country, Government of India mandated revival of Ramagundam (Telangana), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Talcher (Odisha) units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) and Barauni (Bihar) unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (HFCL) through Joint Venture Company (JVC) of nominated PSUs for setting up new ammonia-urea plants of 12.7 LMTPA capacity each," Patel said.
The Ramagundam and Gorakhpur units were commissioned on March 22, 2021 and December 7, 2021, respectively.
Also, Barauni and Sindri units started urea production on October 18, 2022 and November 5, 2022, respectively.
"These plants have added 50.8 lakh tonne per annum of indigenous urea production in the country," Patel said.
She noted that the government has implemented Nutrient Based Subsidy Policy with effect from April 1, 2010 for P&K fertilizers.
Under the policy, a fixed amount of subsidy, decided on annual/bi-annual basis, is provided on notified P&K fertilizers depending on their nutrient content. The MRP is fixed by fertilizer companies as per market dynamics at reasonable level which is monitored by the government.
"While fixing the subsidy rates under NBS, the government takes into consideration various factors, including affordability of farmers to purchase the notified P&K fertilizers," the minister said.