Urea imports are likely to drop by up to 40 per cent to 4.5-5 million tonnes in the current financial year as the demand is sluggish and there is carryover stock, an official said. The country had imported about 8 million tonnes of urea in the 2012—13 fiscal, as per the official data.

“We have imported about 4 million tonnes of urea so far. We are not going to import much in the coming months because demand has slackened and there is also a carryover stock,” a senior Fertiliser Ministry official told PTI.

No fresh order is taking place as there is carryover stock of over 1.5 million tonnes in the country. “Overall urea imports could be in the range of 4.5 and 5 million tonnes in 2013—14,” the official said.

Asked if the government plans to permit urea imports through private players, the official categorically said: “There is no such plan it is not feasible to do so at this point of time.”

At present, MMTC, Indian Potash (IPL) and State Trading Corporation (STC) are designated by the government to import urea on behalf of various distributors. The private companies source urea from imports made by government agencies.

India produces about 22 million tonnes of urea in a year, as against the demand of over 30 million tonnes. The remaining is met through imports.

Urea is provided to farmers at a fixed subsidised maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 5,360 per tonne. The difference between the delivered cost and MRP of urea is provided as subsidy by the government.

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