India imports a significant quantity of water soluble fertilisers from China as well as alternative suppliers like Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Morocco and the USA, Parliament was informed on Friday.
The country’s annual consumption of water soluble fertilisers was at around 3.35 lakh tonnes during 2023-24 fiscal.
Against this domestic demand, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel said: “… a significant quantity is imported from China as well as alternative suppliers like Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Morocco and the USA.”
However, fertiliser companies are free to import phosphatic and potassium fertilisers as per their business dynamic, she said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The minister was responding to a query on whether China has halted export of certain speciality fertilisers to India which is likely to adversely affect Indian farmers.
The minister said there is no classification as “speciality fertilisers” under the Fertiliser Control Order, 1985, except for “100 per cent water soluble complex fertiliser” and “100 per cent water soluble mixture” category.
The water soluble fertilisers are mainly used for cash and horticultural crops. None of these fertiliser are subsidised fertilisers within the ambit of the government’s Nutrient-Based Subsidy (NBS) Scheme.