Urea, DAP availability at comfortable levels for kharif season, says govt

Clarification comes amid concerns of a massive shortage of urea and DAP across India

The Central government today stated that despite global challenges, the supplies of major fertilisers across the country have remained comfortable during the ongoing kharif season, dismissing any notion of an unprecedented shortage.

 

In a statement issued today, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers said that for the 2025 kharif season, against the pro-rata requirement of 14.3 million tonnes of urea, total availability is 18.3 million tonnes, with sales so far recorded at 15.5 million tonnes.

 

Similarly, for DAP, the total availability for kharif 2025 is 4.9 million tonnes against a pro-rata requirement of 4.5 million tonnes, with sales of 3.3 million tonnes already completed.

   

In the case of NPKs, the total availability is around 9.7 million tonnes this kharif season, the Central government said, against a pro-rata requirement of 5.8 million tonnes. Of this, around 6.45 million tonnes have already been sold, the statement added.

 

“As evident from the data above, the availability of fertilisers has remained comfortable during the ongoing season so far. It is noteworthy that as of 20 August 2025, urea sales have increased by over 1.3 million tonnes compared to the same period last year. Despite this increase in sales, the Department of Fertilisers has ensured uninterrupted availability of urea across the country by maximizing domestic production and procurement through global tenders,” the statement said.

 

A few days ago, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan stated that urea sales have surged this kharif season due to the increased area under paddy and maize.

 

The statement noted that the Department of Fertilisers is entrusted with the mandate of ensuring timely and adequate availability of fertilisers across the country.

 

Before the beginning of each cropping season, the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW) assesses state-wise fertiliser requirements. Based on these projections, the Department of Fertilisers (DoF) issues monthly, state-wise, and company-wise supply plans, the official statement said.

 

It further mentioned that the prevalent geopolitical situation has affected fertiliser supplies to the country.

 

The ongoing Red Sea crisis has disrupted supplies to India, resulting in the re-routing of shipments via the Cape of Good Hope, adding over 6,500 km to the journey.

 

“This has significantly increased voyage time, particularly for DAP. Further, the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Iran conflict have escalated fertiliser prices in the international market,” the statement added.

 

However, despite all these challenges, the Central government has ensured that farmers do not face any scarcity through diplomatic engagements, logistical interventions, and long-term arrangements.

 

“A supply arrangement of 2.5 million tonnes of DAP has been secured between a consortium of Indian fertiliser companies and Morocco. Furthermore, in July 2025, a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) was signed between Saudi Arabia and Indian companies for the annual supply of 3.1 million tonnes of DAP for five years, starting 2025-26,” the statement said.

 

These robust international engagements are aimed at securing India’s long-term fertiliser needs and ensuring timely supply to states.