Urea Policy

Best of BS Opinion: New urea policy skirts fertiliser subsidy reform

From fertiliser subsidies and Russian oil tariffs to regulatory independence, rural water reforms and the politics of interfaith marriage, here are today's top Opinion pieces.

New urea policy tackles imports, but ignores fertiliser subsidy distortions

India's new urea policy boosts domestic production, but leaves unresolved the subsidy imbalance driving overuse, soil degradation and rising fertiliser costs

Cabinet clears new urea policy to add 10 mt domestic production capacity

The Cabinet has approved NIPU-2026 to add 10 million tonnes of domestic urea capacity through 8-9 new plants, aiming to curb imports and boost self-reliance

Cabinet okays national investment policy for 10 MT fresh urea capacity

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a National Investment Policy 2026 to create fresh domestic urea capacity of 10 million tonne and make India self-reliant in the most widely consumed fertiliser in the country. The new investment framework, approved in the cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will support the setting up of 8-9 new natural gas-based plants. "India's import dependence has come down due to the addition of six new plants in the last decade. Creation of an additional 8-9 new plants will help the country meet its complete requirement locally and make it self-reliant in this fertiliser," I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters after the meeting. Urea requirement is rising by 5 per cent per annum. India's urea production is around 30 million tonne against the demand of 40 million tonne. The gap of 10 million tonne is met through imports. The policy approved today aims to create additional urea capacity and become self-reliant, he said. Under

Govt likely to use ammonia from coal gasification to produce urea

The government is exploring coal gasification-based ammonia for new urea plants to cut LNG dependence, boost energy security and reduce fertiliser subsidies

Centre working on reducing green-grey ammonia cost gap to boost green urea

Green ammonia, the main input for making green urea, currently costs more to produce than conventional grey ammonia, making green urea production uncompetitive without support

India, Bangladesh urea firms shut operations as war disrupts LNG flow

LNG is the primary feedstock for urea production, serving as an energy source and a key input in making the world's most widely used fertilizer

Centre likely to use digital farmer IDs to rationalise urea sales

Move could be another attempt to rein in burgeoning fertiliser subsidy

India's urea imports jumps 2x to 5.8 million tonnes in April-Oct: Govt

India's urea import has more than doubled to 58.62 lakh tonnes during April-October this year to meet domestic demand, the government on Monday said, while asserting that it has ensured adequate supply of fertilizers to farmers in the summer sowing season. "Between April and October 2025, India imported 58.62 lakh tonnes of agricultural-grade urea, compared to 24.76 lakh tonnes during the same period in the previous year," the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said in a statement. Further, imports of 17.5 lakh tonnes are already lined up for November and December, it added. The Department of Fertilizers said it has ensured adequate availability of fertilizers, including urea, across the country during the kharif 2025 season. The government ensured that farmers received the required quantities of urea without any shortage. The availability of urea was 230.53 lakh tonnes, as against the projected requirement of 185.39 lakh tonnes. Sales stood at 193.20 lakh tonnes. "This reflect

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

Drop in nano-urea sales has fertiliser companies holding their breath

Nano urea sales dropped by a steep 43.2 per cent in FY24 from the previous year, despite production capacity rising by almost 59 per cent in that period

NFL, RCF, FACT: Shares of fertiliser firms rally up to 13% ahead of Budget

In the pre-Budget consultations with the finance minister, the agri sector had sought rationalisation of fertiliser subsidies and hike in investment for agricultural research.

Urea consumption to fall 2.5 mn tonne on efforts to cut chemical fertiliser

India's conventional urea consumption is estimated to decline 25 lakh tonnes this fiscal on increase in demand of nano liquid urea and the government's efforts to discourage use of chemical fertilisers, Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Friday. Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya also highlighted that the Cabinet on Thursday approved a Rs 24,420 crore subsidy on Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilisers for the kharif season. The prices of all fertilisers, including urea and Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), will not increase, he said. "The Modi government has made a lot of efforts to promote alternate fertilisers and discourage use of chemical fertilisers. The use of nano liquid urea is also gaining momentum," Mandaviya said. As a result, the minister said, "The consumption of urea in 2023-24 is estimated to decline by 25 lakh tonnes." Mandaviya said the urea consumption stood at 357 lakh tonnes during FY23. "During April-January period of this fiscal, the ...

Urea production up 12% in first 9 months of FY24, sales remain flat

Urea demand could re-emerge in a big way for the 2024 kharif season from May and June with the advent of monsoon

China's urea export curbs may not hit India much, push up global rates

But it could push up global rates

Govt launches flying squads to prevent illegal diversion of agri-grade urea

In the course of their inspections, the squads have registered 30 FIRs for illegal diversion of urea, confiscating 70,000 bags in the process

Best of BS Opinion: Prompt disclosures, boosting production, and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Boosting production

New urea policy is showing encouraging results

14 urea plants get time till March to meet new energy norms: Govt sources

The Union Cabinet is believed to have approved a proposal to allow 14 urea units, which could not meet the new energy norms under the 2015 policy, to continue with the existing norms till March 2023, sources said. According to sources, the existing energy norms for 14 urea manufacturing units have been extended for further period till 31st March, 2023. Some penalty has been imposed while giving an extension. These plants have been directed to meet the energy norm by March 2023. The extension of present energy norms will ensure easy availability of urea to farmers through domestic production, they added. The New Urea Policy-2015 (NUP-2015) was notified by the Department of Fertilizers on 25th May, 2015 with the objective of maximising indigenous urea production, promoting energy efficiency in urea production and rationalising subsidy burden on the government. The NUP-2015 covers 25 gas-based existing urea units. As per NUP-2015, the existing gas-based urea units were classified int

India set to be self-sufficient in urea by 2025 even without help from nano

The commissioning of new plants is expected to bring down import dependency to less than half of current levels