NEW DELHI: India’s urea imports had declined by 23 percent in April-May this year. The imports in April-May were at 7.71 lakh tonnes compared to 10.03 lakh tonnes in the same period year before. Last financial year, urea imports were at 84.74 lakh tonnes, a drop of 3.41 percent, due to higher domestic output. Official data records show India’s urea imports stood at 87.49 lakh tonnes in the fiscal of 2014-15. The production of urea reached its highest ever capacity of 245 lakh tonnes in 2015-16, a surge of 20 lakh tonnes from the previous output in 2014-15.
Last year, neem coated urea was made compulsory by the government, as it works as an insecticide and is beneficial to the soil. The coating of urea with neem also helps in diverting the fertiliser to be used for non-agricultural purposes in the industry. The annual demand of urea in India is estimated to be 300 lakh tonnes, while output was stagnant at about 220 lakh tonnes in the last few years. The country had to import urea to meet the rest of the demand.
The import of urea in the country is permitted through three State Trading Enterprises (STEs) – Indian Potash Ltd (IPL), MMTC Ltd and State Trading Corporation of India (STC). In India, urea is a controlled fertiliser and is marketed at a fixed price of Rs.5,360 a tonne. The subsidy is based on the difference between the selling price and cost of production, which is then given to the producers.
