Delhi blasts shine a light on role of fertilisers as potential explosives

The recovery of ammonium nitrate linked to the Delhi blasts has raised fresh questions about how fertilisers are bought, tracked and stored in India, and how some agri inputs can be misused

The recovery of huge quantities of ammonium nitrate and their link to the blasts that rocked the national capital of Delhi early last month back has brought into focus the process by which fertilisers or plant chemicals are purchased in India, besides raising the question of how urea or di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) can be turned into a deadly explosive.

 

A sting operation a few days back by an Indian television channel showed that, despite the blast and the network it exposed, it was still easy to buy both fertiliser and plant nutrients that can be converted into bombs in large quantities.

 

Given India's vast agrarian network, the seizure of such large quantities of fertiliser -- close to 3,000 kg -- has raised some uncomfortable questions: first, whether fertilisers can really be converted into bombs; and second, is ammonium nitrate, the chemical that was used in Delhi bomb blast, widely used as a plant nutrient, and therefore easily accessible.

 

For example, in the FY26 rabi season till November 21, urea sales were 12 per cent more than the same period last year while DAP sales were almost 7 per cent more due to higher acreage.

 

Experts said that the answer to both questions is both yes and no.

 

Both NP (nitrogen and phosphorus) and NPKS (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur) or other any product that contains both nitrogen or phosphorus can technically be converted into an explosive provided it is mixed with other ingredients such as oil and few supplementary chemicals.

 

But when it comes to ammonium nitrate, which has come under suspicion in the light of the Delhi blasts, experts say ammonium nitrate is never used as fertiliser in its pure form in the country.

 

“Many years back, some amount of calcium ammonium nitrate was used in small quantities as fertilisers but it was banned subsequently,” Dr S Nand, an expert in the sector and former additional director general of Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) told Business Standard. The ban, incidentally, was provoked by the fertiliser's properties that allowed it to be converted into an explosive.

 

Globally, though, he said pure ammonium nitrate is used as fertilisers and is also sold openly as it is easier to store in colder conditions.

 

“In India if pure ammonium nitrate has to be used for fertilisers it has to be stored in controlled conditions,” Nand said.

 

Of late, however, some companies have started selling ammonium sulphate but not ammonium nitrate, which is governed by a separate legal mandate and does not come under fertiliser control order.

 

As for the ease of procurement of fertilisers, experts said that while the Indian government has developed a foolproof Aadhar based identification system, dealers and retailers have found and used loopholes over the years.

 

In India, fertiliser can be sold to a farmer by the retailer or dealer only when the farmer enters his Aadhar card details along with details of land size, name, as well as some other details into the system.

 

Typically, what is that if the farmer is a repeat customer, holding the same Aadhaar number, the retailer usually does not bother to check identity for each sale; thus, the farmer's relatives or others can punch in the details to get the required bag of fertiliser.

 

“On paper, the government has details of every bag of fertiliser sold to each and every farmer. This is also necessary as fertiliser companies get the subsidy only when details of the bag sold is entered into the system,” another expert said.

 

If a dealer wants he can game the system he can, he noted, but the chances of getting caught are also high.

 

But following the Red Fort blast, the Centre has now cracked down on sale of fertilisers, and has started asking for all the details of the farmers entered, and has started conducting surprise checks as well to authenticate the veracity of the buyer.