India’s urea imports from China reached their highest level in three years during the current financial year, while fertilizer shipments from Russia also increased sharply, according to government data tabled in Parliament on Friday.In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Fertilizers Anupriya Patel said India imported 21.24 lakh tonnes of urea from China between April 2025 and February 2026, PTI reported. This figure is significantly higher than the imports of 0.99 lakh tonnes in the entire financial year 2024-25, and also higher than the imports of 18.65 lakh tonnes in 2023-24 and 12.80 lakh tonnes in 2022-23.Apart from urea, imports from China during this period included 5.11 lakh tonnes of Di Ammonium Phosphate (DAP), 0.28 lakh tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MOP) and 9.61 lakh tonnes of NPK fertilizers, taking the total phosphatic and potash fertilizer shipments from the country to about 15 lakh tonnes.Urea supplies from Russia also increased, with imports reaching 13.99 lakh tonnes by February, already higher than the 9.23 lakh tonnes recorded in 2024-25. India imported additional 7.55 lakh tonnes of DAP, 12.97 lakh tonnes of MOP and 21 lakh tonnes of NPK fertilizers from Russia during the current financial year.Overall, urea imports from China and Russia till February were about 35.23 lakh tonnes. Overall urea import from other countries was 56.47 lakh tonnes in 2024-25.On domestic availability, the minister said that about 432.44 lakh tonnes of urea is currently available in the country against the estimated requirement of 370.84 lakh tonnes. Sales through the Direct Benefit Transfer system have reached 381.59 lakh tonnes so far this year.Phosphatic and potash fertilizers fall under the Open General License regime, which allows companies to import or manufacture them depending on their commercial valuation.
