West Asia crisis: Centre works on several measures to boost domestic fertiliser stocks

Concerned over the availability of fertilisers in the coming months as the West Asia conflict plays out, the Centre is working on several measures to improve domestic stocks for the immediate kharif and later rabi season.
 
According to government sources, the Centre will be revisiting the fertiliser subsidy allocation for the fiscal year in the coming months and has also enhanced natural gas supplies to fertiliser plants. It is also in talks with countries to step up emergency imports of fertilisers and urea, sources said.
 
“We are ensuring supply of at least 80%-90% of required natural gas supplies to domestic units to ensure that fertiliser production continues,” said a senior official.

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Further, with fertiliser prices rising amid supply shocks and disruptions from the US-Israel and Iran war, the Centre will also increase the allocation to the fertiliser subsidy for the fiscal year, currently budgeted at Rs 1.7 lakh crore. For FY26, the Centre had increased the outlay for the fertiliser subsidy to Rs 1.86 lakh crore in the Revised Estimate from Rs 1.67 lakh crore in the Budget estimate. 
 
Officials said that domestic availability of fertilisers for the kharif sowing, which starts soon, is adequate for now, but as we advance, the effort would be to ensure stocks for the rabi sowing. “Even if the war is to end soon, the situation would take a long time to normalise,” they noted.

There is also concern about hoarding fertilisers, which is being reported across the country, and efforts are being made to prevent this, the source further noted. With the monsoon likely to be weak, the problems are seen to get more compounded for India.
 
The West Asia war between the US, Israel, and Iran has thrown up a severe challenge to fertiliser availability for India as well as disruption in LNG supplies, which remain suspended from Qatar.

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A report by Morgan Stanley highlighted that India remains vulnerable to supply disruption in the availability of fertiliser and to volatility in fertiliser prices, as agriculture accounts for 20% of GDP. As of early April 2026, India is managing fertiliser supplies for the summer sowing season amid West Asia disruptions, securing 18 million metric tonnes of the 39.05-million-tonne requirement, with about 46% already in stock, it said.  
 
“Given its 30-35% reliance on imports via the Strait of Hormuz, India is diversifying sourcing to countries like Russia, Morocco, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It has also approved higher nutrient-based subsidies and planned a substantial subsidy outlay for 2026-27 to ensure affordability and supply stability,” it further noted.
 
A recent report by CareEdge Ratings estimated that the government’s subsidy outgo on fertilisers would rise by about Rs 38,000 crore over the budgeted Rs 1.7 lakh crore,” it had said.