The Department of Fertilizers under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers reported significant achievements in India's fertilizer sector over the past 12 years, focusing on achieving self-reliance and insulating farmers from global market disruptions caused by geopolitical conflicts in West Asia that led to skyrocketing prices, acute natural gas shortages, and heavily delayed shipping lines.
Production and Capacity Expansion
India's domestic urea production surged from 225 LMT in 2014-15 to a record high of 314.07 LMT in 2023-24, with production remaining strong at 306.67 LMT in 2024-25. Six new mega urea plants were established since 2014, adding 76.2 lakh metric tonnes of annual capacity, with two more plants totaling 25.4 LMT capacity set to commence production shortly. Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizer manufacturing reached a historic high of 211.22 LMT in 2024-25, up significantly from 159.54 LMT in 2014-15, with both public and private sectors continuing to construct state-of-the-art P&K production plants.
Buffer Stock and Crisis Management
For the upcoming Kharif 2026 season, India holds an opening stock of approximately 200.98 LMT against a projected total requirement of 383.9 LMT reassessed by DA&FW, representing an unprecedented advance availability of over 51% that far exceeds the traditional buffer standard of 33%. The government constituted seven Empowered Groups of Secretaries with the Fertilizer Secretary leading 10 high-level reviews to ensure inter-ministerial synergy and address domestic natural gas supply issues in coordination with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Post-crisis domestic production stood at 118.15 LMT, and when combined with strategic imports and joint global tenders, total post-crisis fertilizer availability witnessed a net addition of 153.79 LMT.
Price Subsidies and Farmer Protection
The government has absorbed international inflationary shocks to maintain stable prices for farmers. While global market prices exceed ₹4100 per 45-kg bag of urea, Indian farmers continue to pay a heavily subsidized rate of just ₹266.5. Similarly, DAP is available at ₹1,350 per 50-kg bag against global prices exceeding ₹5,000. The retail price of fertilizers for Indian farmers has not been raised by a single paisa despite global price increases.
Transition to Sustainable Agriculture
A massive nationwide mass-awareness campaign executed from March to May resulted in significant growth in eco-friendly alternatives. Combined sales of Fortified Organic Manure (FOM), Liquid FOM (LFOM), and Phosphate-Rich Organic Manure (PROM) soared to seven times the volume in Financial Year 2025-26 compared to 2024-25. Ammonium Sulphate consumption surged by nearly 60,000 tonnes, and green manuring was introduced across a record 1.84 lakh hectares under the technical guidance of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).