India imports 19.97 million tons of fertilisers till February: DV Sadananda Gowda

The country imported 19.97 million tonnes of fertiliser till February in the current fiscal and there was no shortage of supply during the kharif and rabi season, Fertiliser Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said in Parliament on Tuesday. Gowda, in his written reply to the Lok Sabha, said 98.28 lakh tonnes of urea, 47.80 lakh tonnes of Di Ammonia Phosphate (DAP), 40.70 lakh tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MoP) and 12.99 lakh tonnes of NPK fertilisers were imported till February this fiscal.

Of the total import of 19.97 million tonnes, 11.33 million tonnes were imported during the kharif (summer) season and 8.64 million tonnes in the ongoing rabi (winter) season till February.

About indigenous production, the minister said that total fertiliser production stood at 32.24 million tonnes till January of this year, of which urea output was 20.98 million tonnes.

The country meets the gap between demand and production in the case of urea through timely imports. In the case of phosphatic and potassium fertilisers, private companies import these fertilisers based on their commercial judgements, he added.