Urea imports surge 16% to 56.56 lakh tonnes in April-November

New Delhi: India's urea imports increased by 16.47 percent to 56.56 lakh tonnes in the first eight months of the current financial year.

The country had imported 48.56 lakh tonnes of the fertiliser in the same period (April-November) of the 2014-15 fiscal, according to official data.

The government imports urea through three canalising agencies - STC, MMTC and IPL. Besides, India also has an offtake agreement with Oman- based fertiliser firm OMIFCO, which is a joint venture between domestic cooperatives such as IFFCO, Kribhco and Oman Oil company SAOC.

Urea is a controlled fertiliser and is sold at a fixed selling price of Rs 5,360 per tonne. The difference between cost of production and selling price is paid as subsidy to manufacturers.

The country's annual urea demand is 30 million tonnes, while the production is stagnant at 22 million tonnes.

The production is expected to rise to 24 million tonnes in the current financial year after the new energy norms framed by the government for fertiliser plants, Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar has said.