The Indian fertiliser companies on Saturday said they will not increase the maximum retail prices of crop nutrients.
“The Indian fertiliser industry has decided not to increase the MRP of fertilisers to farmers at present,” Fertiliser Association of India (FAI) said in a statement.
However, it added that the depreciation in rupee against the US dollar is adding to the input costs of fertilisers.
“Weakening of the Indian rupee by 10 paise increases the cost of DAP import by Rs 75 per tonne,” it pointed out.
The rupee had yesterday weakened by 19 paise to close at 52.25/26 against the dollar. It has weakened by 18 per cent against dollar so far in 2011, and had touched a historic low of 52.73 on November 22.
India imports 90 per cent of its di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) demand and the entire requirement of muriate of potash (MoP).
The country is estimated to have imported 5.6 million tonnes of urea, 3.81 million tonnes of DAP, 2.6 million tonnes of MoP and 2.17 million tonnes of complex fertilisers during the Rabi (winter) season 2011-12.