Urea imports surge 43% to 30.62 lakh tonnes

NEW DELHI: India's urea imports have increased 43 per cent to 30.62 lakh tonnes (LT) in the first five months of the current financial year.

Urea imports during the same period of the previous fiscal stood at 21.34 LT, according to official data.

The government imports urea through state trading enterprises STC, MMTC and IPL for direct agricultural use to bridge the gap between assessed demand and the local production.

India also imports urea from Oman India Fertiliser Company (Omifco) under a long-term urea offtake agreement between the government and the company.

India's annual urea demand is about 300 LT while the domestic production has stayed stagnant at 220 LT. The rest is met through imports.

Urea is a controlled commodity in India as it is imported by the government itself. The soil nutrient's maximum retail price is fixed at Rs 5,360 per tonne, and the difference between the cost of production and the retail price is paid as subsidy to the manufacturers.