New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) The government assured the Parliament on Friday that adequate fertiliser stocks are available to meet the requirements of farmers during the ongoing Rabi 2025–26 season and beyond.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel said that as of March 23, the country had 53.08 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of urea, 21.80 LMT of DAP, 7.98 LMT of MOP, and 48.38 LMT of NPKS in reserve, ensuring sufficient supply for agricultural needs.

India is dependent on imports of urea and phosphatic fertilisers to meet the demand of the agriculture sector. To ensure a stable and assured supply in view of this dependency, the Department of Fertilisers has facilitated the signing of long-term agreements between Indian companies KRIBHCO, IPL & CIL with Saudi Arabia’s M/s Maaden for the supply of 31 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) of DAP and NPK annually to India over a five-year period from 2025-26 to 2029-30, the minister said.

With regard to urea, the government had announced the New Investment Policy (NIP) 2012 on January 2, 2013, and its amendment on October 7, 2014, to facilitate fresh investment to make India self-sufficient in the urea sector. A total of six new urea units have been set up under NIP-2012, which includes four urea units set up through Joint Venture Companies (JVC) of nominated PSUs and two urea units set up by the private companies.

The production of urea in India has shot up from 225 LMT per annum during 2014-15 to a record 314.07 LMT during 2023-24. During 2024-25, 306.67 LMT of urea was produced in the country.

The units set up through JVC are Ramagundam urea unit of Ramagundam Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd (RFCL) in Telangana and 3 urea units, namely Gorakhpur, Sindri, and Barauni of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar, respectively.

The minister further stated that the units set up by private companies are the Panagarh urea unit of Matix Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd. (Matix) in West Bengal, and the Gadepan-III urea unit of Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Ltd. (CFCL) in Rajasthan. Each of these units has an installed capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tonnes per annum (LMTPA). These units are highly energy efficient as they are based on the latest technology.

–IANS

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