New Delhi: India has stepped up urea imports from alternative suppliers, including Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Georgia, as the prolonged war in West Asia has disrupted trade flows from traditional suppliers in the region, according to commerce ministry data.
According to government data reviewed by Mint, imports from these countries rose sharply in the first quarter of the current financial year, up from zero in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal. Of India’s 2.5 million tonnes (mt) urea imports in the first quarter of the current fiscal, more than half or 52%, came from Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Georgia.
By volume, imports in the first quarter of FY27 were led by Egypt (609,000 tonnes), followed by Algeria (245,000 tonnes), Nigeria (244,000 tonnes), and Georgia (211,000 tonnes). Also, urea supplies have been arranged from Oman, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam, said a government official.
The uncertainty over shipping routes, freight costs and supply schedules due to the West Asia war has prompted India to diversify sourcing to ensure the uninterrupted availability of the key fertilizer. This assumes significance for India, the second-largest global fertilizer consumer and the world’s largest urea importer. India’s fertilizer imports include urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), muriate of potash (MOP) and complex fertilisers (NPKS).
- India sourced 52% of first-quarter urea imports from four new alternative suppliers.
- West Asia war disruptions pushed India toward Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, and Georgia sourcing.
- Fertilizer subsidy bill could nearly double to ₹3.54 trillion this fiscal year.
- Weak monsoon forecast prompted India to trim kharif season fertilizer demand estimates.
- India still imports a fifth of its total annual urea requirement overall.
With fertiliser prices increasing from ₹2,900 per 45 kg bag to ₹4,300, the fertilizer ministry earlier proposed doubling the fertiliser subsidy bill to ₹3.54 trillion for the current fiscal. The government had budgeted for a ₹1.77 trillion fertilizer subsidy bill for the current fiscal. This subsidy remains one of the largest components of the government’s support to the farm sector, with the fertilizer subsidy bill for India crossing ₹2.17 trillion in FY26.
Overall, India imported 194,830 tonnes of urea from Egypt, 217,059 tonnes from Algeria, 124,215 tonnes from Georgia, and 447,090 tonnes from Nigeria in fiscal year 2025-26, according to data from the commerce ministry. These imports accounted for 8.8% of India’s total volume of urea imports of 11.2 million tonnes at that time.
Subsidy bill set to nearly double as prices rise
“Our priority was to ensure that farmers were not impacted by the West Asia crisis. We therefore made urea available to them wherever possible to ensure uninterrupted supplies,” said an official on condition of anonymity.
“Urea remains central to Indian agriculture, so diversification is undoubtedly desirable. However, such diversification should go hand in hand with strengthening domestic production,” said Shweta Saini, agriculture economist and founder and chief executive of Delhi-based Arcus Policy Research.
Urea is vital for India because it is the most affordable and concentrated source of nitrogen (46% nutrient content), driving high yields for essential food crops such as rice and wheat.
Queries emailed to the spokespersons of India’s Department of Fertilisers, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, embassies of Egypt, Algeria, and Georgia, and the Nigerian High Commission in New Delhi on 10 August remained unanswered till press time.
Urea is the country's most widely used nitrogenous fertilizer. At present, there are 33 operational urea manufacturing units across all sectors that have a total capacity of 26.9 mt. India currently imports around 20% of its annual urea requirement.
Weak rainfall cuts fertilizer demand
India has also trimmed its fertilizer demand estimate for the ongoing kharif season after the weather office lowered its monsoon forecast, reflecting expectations of slower crop sowing and reduced nutrient consumption amid weaker rainfall prospects. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) revised its 2026 south-west monsoon forecast to 90% of the long-period average (LPA), down from 92%, prompting the department of agriculture and farmers welfare to pare the overall fertilizer requirements to 38.39 million tonnes from an earlier 39.05 million tonnes. Urea demand has been trimmed by about 400,000 tonnes to 19 million tonnes, while diammonium phosphate (DAP) demand was cut to 5.62 million tonnes from 5.91 million tonnes.
“The diversification of urea imports undertaken by India seems to be a long-term tool for risk management. Sourcing urea from places such as Egypt, Nigeria, Georgia, and Algeria enables less dependence on traditional suppliers and mitigates, to some extent, risk exposure in terms of geopolitics and logistics,” said Anisur Rahman, professor, Centre for West Asia Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia University.
Short-term quotas have also been used to bridge supply gaps and ease market stress.
“Sudden war developments have disrupted the urea supply chain. Emergency shortage term quotas were also made. Quotas are periodic arrangements to tide over stress,” added Rudra Prasad Pradhan, professor of International Relations, department of humanities and social sciences, BITS Pilani.
However, experts say that the key lies in last-mile delivery. “The major issue is the availability of last-mile services. Farmers may experience problems related to imbalanced distribution, issues related to transportation and shortages on the spot," said Rahman.