NEW DELHI, Mar 8: Urea imports have increased by 13 per cent to 78.43 lakh tonnes (LT) in the April-February period of 2014-15.
Urea imports stood at 69.27 LT in the corresponding period of 2013-14. Imports in the entire previous fiscal were 70.88 LT, according to official data.
Urea is imported by three STEs (state trading enterprises) — Indian Potash Ltd (IPL), MMTC and STC on behalf of the government to meet domestic shortfall.
The country produces about 22 million tonnes of urea (MT) against annual domestic demand of 30 MT.
Besides three STEs, the government imports urea through OMIFCO, which is a joint venture project of IFFCO and Kribhco, with an offtake agreement.
According to sources, STEs import urea at average price of about USD 300 per tonne — lower than the previous year’s average price of about USD 322 per tonne. Urea shipped by OMIFCO is much cheaper than STEs soil nutrient.
Sources also added that the total soil nutrient dispatched in December from ports and godowns to different cities across the country was highest ever at 34.84 LT.
India’s urea imports have decreased by 12 per cent to 7.08 MT in 2013-14 due to carry-over stocks from previous year. The country had imported 8.04 MT of urea in the entire 2012—13 fiscal.
Urea is provided to farmers at a fixed subsidised maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 5,360 per tonne. The difference between the cost of production and MRP of urea is provided as subsidy to manufacturers. (PTI)
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