India expects its fertiliser subsidy bill to jump by about 20% for the current financial year because of price rises fuelled by the Middle East crisis, fertiliser ministry official Aparna Sharma said on Monday. India, the world's largest importer of urea, has placed orders to import a record 2.5 million metric tons of the fertiliser at nearly double the price paid two months ago as the Iran conflict disrupts global supplies and drives up prices.
The record purchases, about a quarter of India's annual imports, are expected to tighten global supply and push prices higher, potentially raising future import costs for New Delhi.
Rising import costs are likely to increase India's fertiliser subsidies to companies for selling crop nutrients to farmers below market prices.
India's fertiliser subsidy for the financial year to the end of last March is estimated at about 1.87 trillion rupees ($19.85 billion).
India imports fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash, as well as liquefied natural gas, a key feedstock for urea production.
The Middle East accounts for roughly half of India's DAP and urea imports, with Saudi Arabia the largest DAP supplier and Oman the biggest urea supplier.
India holds higher fertiliser stocks, but demand tends to surge in June and July, when farmers begin planting crops such as rice, corn, cotton and oilseeds.
The record purchases, about a quarter of India's annual imports, are expected to tighten global supply and push prices higher, potentially raising future import costs for New Delhi.
Rising import costs are likely to increase India's fertiliser subsidies to companies for selling crop nutrients to farmers below market prices.
India's fertiliser subsidy for the financial year to the end of last March is estimated at about 1.87 trillion rupees ($19.85 billion).
India imports fertilisers such as urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and muriate of potash, as well as liquefied natural gas, a key feedstock for urea production.
The Middle East accounts for roughly half of India's DAP and urea imports, with Saudi Arabia the largest DAP supplier and Oman the biggest urea supplier.
India holds higher fertiliser stocks, but demand tends to surge in June and July, when farmers begin planting crops such as rice, corn, cotton and oilseeds.
