Urea imports to rise by 15% to 9 MT in FY13

New Delhi: The country's urea imports are expected to rise by about 15 per cent to 9 million tonnes (MT) this fiscal, even as its domestic production is expected to be up by 2 per cent to 22.5 MT in the same period, the government said on Thursday.

The country had imported 7.84 million tonnes of the key nitrogenous fertiliser, while it had produced 21.98 million tonnes of the crop nutrient in the 2011-12 fiscal, according to the data presented by Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertiliser Srikant Jena in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.

According to the data, the requirement of soil nutrient is expected to increase by 5 per cent to 32.08 MT in 2012-13 as against 30.52 million tonnes in 2011-12.

"The gap between requirement and indigenous production is met through imports," the minister said.

Answering a separate query in the Lok Sabha, Jena said the effect of rising prices of fertilisers on agriculture is yet to be analysed.

"However, it is observed that consumption of phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertilisers has come down while that of urea has increased," he added.

Source : zeenews.india.com