War-related disruption in India’s fertilizer production declined substantially between March and April, although production remains below normal levels. This is the main finding from the core sector industry data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Wednesday.
It is extremely important that India manages adequate fertilizers before the next sowing season begins. This effort has been dealt a double blow by the West Asian War. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has blocked the supply of both finished fertilizers and critical petrochemical-based materials needed to make fertilizers from importers in the West Asian region. This has led to worldwide shortages and rising prices. Core sector data tracks domestic manufacturing of fertilizers using mostly imported inputs.
In March, the first month after the war began, the fertilizer production index in the core sector fell 24.6% on an annual basis. In absolute terms, the fertilizer production index in March 2026 was 95.7, the lowest since April 2021. This number increased to 103.2 in April 2026, which is 8.6% less than in April 2025. The base sector index for 2011-12 is 100.
Things aren’t back to normal yet, but they are much better than they were in March. This is partly a result of the government restoring gas supplies to domestic fertilizer manufacturing plants. HT reported on 9 April that “Natural gas supplies to fertilizer plants have again been increased from 90% of their requirement to 95%… the second increase in a week” after the previous “increase from 70% to 90%”.
The composite core sector index grew at an annualized rate of 1.7% in April compared to 1.2% in March 2026. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery product categories were in contraction along with fertilizers, while steel, cement and power recorded positive growth. Is the contraction in refinery products also a reflection of the war supply shock? Historical data shows that this is not necessarily true. The region has frequently seen annual contraction in the past.
