India shifts urea imports to Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Georgia amid West Asia war

The Story in Brief

India has sharply increased urea imports from Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria and Georgia as the West Asia war disrupts traditional trade routes, according to commerce ministry data. In the first quarter of the current fiscal, these four nations supplied 52% of India's total 2.5 million tonnes of urea imports, up from zero in the same period last year. Egypt led with 609,000 tonnes, followed by Algeria at 245,000 tonnes, Nigeria at 244,000 tonnes and Georgia at 211,000 tonnes. The government has also sourced urea from Oman, Malaysia, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam.

The shift comes as India's fertiliser subsidy bill is set to nearly double to Rs 3.54 trillion this fiscal, against a budgeted Rs 1.77 trillion. A weaker monsoon forecast has also prompted the government to trim kharif season fertiliser demand estimates, cutting urea demand by 400,000 tonnes to 19 million tonnes. India remains the world's largest urea importer, relying on imports for about 20% of its annual requirement.