India has surplus urea stocks for rabi season: Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar

NEW DELHI: Amid reports of urea shortage in the country, Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar today said there is a surplus of the soil nutrient to meet the domestic requirements of the ongoing rabi sowing season.

Kumar said: "The total demand of urea in the country during November is around 35.28 lakh tonnes whereas the soil nutrient available in the country is around 42 lakh tonnes."

The Minister also added that he has also requested the Railway Ministry to increase the number of racks used to transport urea throughout the country.

"We have requested the Railway Ministry that we need 30 racks on daily basis for transport of urea throughout the country," Kumar added.

The Fertiliser Minister also said that government has already made arrangements and supply plans for urea in coming months of the ongoing rabi season.

"I can assure that there will not be any shortage of urea in the country," he added.

The country's annual urea demand is around 30 million tonnes, while the domestic production is at 22 million tonnes, the rest is met through imports.

Urea is controlled commodity and provided to farmers at fixed selling price of Rs 5,360 per tonne. The difference between cost of production and selling price is paid as subsidy to manufacturers.