India's urea imports more than double to 7.17 MT in April-November: FAI data

New Delhi: India's urea imports more than doubled to 7.17 million tonnes in the first eight months of the current fiscal year as domestic production declined, highlighting the country's growing dependence on foreign supplies to meet farmer demand, industry data showed on Monday.

Urea imports jumped 120.3 per cent to 7.17 MT during April-November 2024-25 compared with 3.26 MT in the year-ago period, according to data released by the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI).

Domestic urea production fell 3.7 per cent to 19.75 MT during the same period.

Overall urea sales rose 2.3 per cent to 25.40 MT, the data showed.

"While we've achieved sales growth through coordinated planning, the significant reliance on imports -- particularly for urea and DAP -- underscores the importance of strategic supply chain management," FAI Chairman S Sankarasubramanian said in a statement.

In November alone, urea imports rose 68.4 per cent to 1.31 MT, compared to 0.78 MT in November 2024. Urea sales rose 4.8 per cent to 3.75 MT in November from over a year ago.

Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), another key soil nutrient, also saw rising import dependence. DAP imports now account for 67 per cent of total supply, up from 56 per cent last year, even as sales remained flat at 7.12 MT during April-November of the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Domestic DAP production declined 5.2 per cent to 2.68 MT.

The import surge reflects India's strategy to ensure uninterrupted fertiliser availability during critical crop nutrition periods, the FAI said.

Complex NPK fertilisers showed strong momentum, with production surging 13.8 per cent to 8.15 MT and imports nearly doubling to 2.72 MT. Sales were steady at 10.38 MT during the April-November period of the current fiscal year.

Muriate of potash sales increased 8.6 per cent to 1.55 MT in the said period.

In a bright spot for domestic production, single super phosphate (SSP) sales rose 15 per cent to 4.16 MT, with production up 9.5 per cent to 3.97 MT.

The SSP performance underscores farmer confidence in indigenous fertilisers and validates the sector's capacity to deliver phosphatic nutrients domestically at competitive cost and quality, the FAI said.

FAI Director General Dr Suresh Kumar Chaudhari said the standout stories in this data are twofold.

"First, the structural shift toward import-driven supply management for nitrogen and phosphate nutrients. Second, the strong performance of indigenous phosphatic fertilisers like SSP, which have grown 15 per cent in sales," he said.

"This signals a balanced approach -- we're securing critical nutrients through planned imports while strengthening domestic phosphatic production. Going forward, FAI will focus on data-driven planning and diversification in nutrient use to support sustainable agriculture," he added.

Urea is subsidised by the central government, with prices remaining unchanged at Rs 242 per 45 kg bag (exclusive of neem coating charges and taxes) since November 1, 2012.

Urea, classified as a controlled commodity under the New Urea Policy, receives substantially higher subsidies compared to phosphatic fertilizers.