Govt may import 4.22mn tonne of urea to meet rabi demand

The government is likely to import around 4.22 million tonne of urea fertiliser to bridge the supply-demand gap during the 2011-12 rabi crop season, a senior government official said.

While the rabi crop season starts from mid-October and ends in mid-April, the fertiliser requirement peaks during October-January, when demand is pegged at 12.66 million tonne.

"Approximately 4.22 million tonnes of urea is required to be imported on the government account to bridge the gap between assessed demand and indigenous production for the rabi season," a senior Fertiliser Ministry official said.

The import of urea would be planned in such a manner that there is no congestion at ports and urea is made available to farmers at the appropriate time, he said, adding that imports would be done through state-run agencies like MMTC.

The official also mentioned that the Department of Fertilisers plans to ensure the availability of 14.38 million tonnes of urea supply during the rabi season, though demand is estimated at 12.66 million tonnes.

As per official estimates, the availability of urea in the 2011-12 rabi season from indigenous production and carry-over stocks is around 9.44 million tonne.

"To ensure availability of 14.38 million tonne of urea, as much as 4.94 million tonne would be required to be imported, out of which 4.22 million tonnes will be done on the government account," the official said.

The remaining 0.72 million tonne is likely to be imported by Oman India Fertiliser Company (Omifco), an India-Oman joint venture company, the official said.

The official also mentioned that steps are being taken to make sufficient urea fertiliser available to farmers in the rabi season, during which crops like wheat, barley, peas, gram and mustard are cultivated.

Urea is sold in the domestic market at a maximum retail price of Rs 5,310 a tonne.