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India Faces 20% Fertilizer Cost Surge
27 Apr
Summary
- India's fertilizer subsidy bill will climb 20% this financial year.
- Record urea imports are nearly double previous costs due to Middle East crisis.
- Higher import expenses will boost subsidies for farmers.
India anticipates its fertilizer subsidy expenses will rise by approximately 20% in the current financial year. This escalation is attributed to price increases stemming from the Middle East crisis. The nation, a leading global importer of urea, has secured record imports of 2.5 million metric tons. These purchases are at nearly double the price point from two months ago, a consequence of global supply disruptions linked to the Iran conflict. These substantial imports may tighten worldwide supply and elevate future procurement costs for India. Consequently, rising expenses for fertilizer imports are likely to inflate subsidies provided to companies that sell crop nutrients to farmers below market value. India's subsidy for the previous financial year, ending March, was estimated at 1.87 trillion rupees ($19.85 billion).
