Mint Explainer | Slipping atmanirbharta in fertilizers?
Indian agriculture is leaning more heavily on fertilizer imports. Urea imports jumped 120% and DAP 54% between April and November FY26 as domestic output lagged demand. Mint explains the impact on farms and the exchequer.
India’s fertilizer supply strategy is once again under strain. Despite years of policy focus on boosting domestic output and cutting import dependence, fertilizer imports have surged in the current financial year as rising farm demand outpaces local production, with implications for subsidies, soil health and food security.
Mint explains the numbers behind the surge in fertilizer imports and why domestic production is struggling to keep pace with demand.
What do the numbers show?
According to the Fertilizer Association of India (FAI), India’s fertilizer supply chain has seen a sharp rebalancing towards imports in FY26 to ensure nutrient availability for farms. Between April and November, urea imports surged 120% year-on-year to 7.2 million tonnes, even as domestic production fell 3.7% during the same period.
Imports of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), another widely used fertilizer, rose 54% to 5.5 million tonnes, while imports of complex NPK fertilizers nearly doubled to 2.7 million tonnes. FAI has said that imports have become structural in nature and can no longer be seen as merely supplementing domestic production.
Why does this matter?
The surge marks a setback to India’s long-standing push for fertilizer self-sufficiency. In 2020, then fertilizer minister D. V. Sadananda Gowda had said India could achieve atmanirbharta (self-sufficiency) by 2023 through revival of old urea plants and adoption of technologies such as nano urea.
While India did reduce its import dependence on urea from 28% of domestic consumption in 2020-21 to about 15% in 2024-25, the spike in demand this year has disrupted that trajectory.
In 2024-25, around 77% of India’s total fertilizer consumption was met through domestic production. That share dropped to 64% in FY26 so far (April to November), reflecting the inability of local output to keep pace with demand.
The shortfall has had visible consequences on the ground. Farmers in several states struggled to procure urea, often standing in queues for days or paying a premium in the black market.
What does this mean for subsidies?
Rising import dependence also pushes up the government’s fertilizer subsidy bill. Total fertilizer subsidies have jumped from ₹81,124 crore in 2019-20 to about ₹1.83 trillion in 2024-25 (revised estimates).
Nearly 70% of this subsidy outgo is for urea, which is sold to farmers at over 90% subsidy. Farmers therefore pay less than a tenth of urea’s actual cost, encouraging excessive use of nitrogen-heavy fertilizers relative to other nutrients.
Why has fertilizer demand risen so sharply?
Demand spiked in FY26 following a sharp increase in cropped area, supported by ample rainfall. Farmers expanded acreage under crops such as corn and rice during the Kharif season, boosting demand for urea and DAP.
Robust sowing of wheat in the ongoing Rabi season is expected to push fertilizer consumption even higher. Last year, shortages of urea and DAP in states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana had triggered farmer protests.
Overall, urea consumption in India has climbed steadily from about 31 million tonnes in 2013-14 to an estimated 40 million tonnes in 2025-26.
Is imbalanced fertilizer use hurting soil health?
Yes. Citing studies by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, the agriculture ministry said in December that imbalanced use of chemical fertilizers, declining organic matter and climate change are among key factors degrading soil health.
The ministry noted that excessive application of nitrogenous fertilizers can lower crop yields and worsen soil degradation. A Parliamentary Standing Committee, in a report submitted in December, also recommended training farmers to promote balanced nutrient use, crop rotation and natural farming practices.
However, industry insiders argue that unless urea prices are corrected by reducing subsidies, farmers will continue to overuse urea compared to other nutrients.
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