New Delhi, March 13 India imported 21.24 lakh tonnes of urea from China between April 2025 and February 2026, the highest in three years, even as total fertilizer imports from China and Russia rose sharply this fiscal year, according to government data presented before Parliament on Friday.
In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Fertilizers Anupriya Patel said that India had sourced fertilizers from both countries, with Chinese urea imports dramatically outpacing the 0.99 lakh tonnes recorded in the full fiscal year 2024-25 and also exceeding 18.65 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 and 12.80 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.
Beyond urea, India imported 5.11 lakh tonnes of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), 0.28 lakh tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MoP) and 9.61 lakh tonnes of NPK fertilizer from China between April 2025 and February 2026, bringing total phosphate and potash imports to 15 lakh tonnes.
Urea imports from Moscow stood at 13.99 lakh tonnes until February, already higher than the 9.23 lakh tonnes imported in 2024-25. India also sourced 7.55 lakh tonnes of DAP, 12.97 lakh tonnes of MoP and 21 lakh tonnes of NPK fertilizers from Russia this fiscal year.
Total urea imports from China and Russia alone are about 35.23 lakh tonnes until February of the current fiscal.
Overall, urea imports from other countries were at 56.47 lakh tonnes achieved in 2024-25.
On domestic availability, the minister said that approximately 432.44 lakh tonnes of urea is currently available in the country against a requirement of 370.84 lakh tonnes. Sales of urea through direct benefit transfer have reached 381.59 lakh tonnes so far this year.
Phosphate and potash fertilizers are covered under the Open General Licence, allowing companies to import or manufacture them based on their own commercial assessments.