Kamal Ghorui
India’s imports of urea from China have climbed to their highest level in three years during the current fiscal, even as fertiliser shipments from Russia have also increased sharply, according to government data tabled in Parliament on Friday.In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Fertilisers Anupriya Patel said India imported 21.24 lakh tonne of urea from China between April 2025 and February 2026, reported PTI. The figure is significantly higher than 0.99 lakh tonne in the full fiscal year 2024-25, and also exceeds imports of 18.65 lakh tonne in 2023-24 and 12.80 lakh tonne in 2022-23.Apart from urea, imports from China during the period included 5.11 lakh tonne of Di Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), 0.28 lakh tonne of Muriate of Potash (MoP) and 9.61 lakh tonne of NPK fertilisers, taking total phosphatic and potassic fertiliser shipments from the country to about 15 lakh tonne.Urea supplies from Russia also rose, with imports reaching 13.99 lakh tonne till February, already higher than the 9.23 lakh tonne recorded in 2024-25. India additionally imported 7.55 lakh tonne of DAP, 12.97 lakh tonne of MoP and 21 lakh tonne of NPK fertilisers from Russia during the current fiscal.Taken together, urea imports from China and Russia stood at about 35.23 lakh tonne till February. Overall urea imports from other countries were at 56.47 lakh tonne in 2024-25.On domestic availability, the minister said around 432.44 lakh tonne of urea is currently available in the country against an estimated requirement of 370.84 lakh tonne. Sales through the direct benefit transfer system have reached 381.59 lakh tonne so far this year.Phosphatic and potassic fertilisers fall under the Open General Licence regime, which allows companies to import or manufacture them based on their commercial assessments.
