Question : Decline in Urea Import

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

(a) the quantitative decline in the import of urea due to its record production in the country and the quantum of revenue saved to as a result thereof;

(b) whether the production of other fertilizers has also increased in the country;

(c) if so, the details thereof along with the initiatives taken by the Government in this regard; and

(d) the number of closed fertilizer factories for which the Government has taken initiative for revamping during the last two years and the present status thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANING AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERILIZERS

(RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

(a): The import of urea is made on Government account to bridge the gap between estimated indigenous production and assessed demand in the country. The import during the year 2017-18 (Apr-Dec) was 49.83 Lakh MT as against the import of 49.88 Lakh MT in the year 2016-17 for the same duration. Thus there is a decline of 0.05 Lakh MT in import of urea during 2017-18 (Apr-Dec) over previous year. Based on the weighted average price of urea imports during the current year i.e. US$ 216.86 PMT CFR, the saving work out to US$ 1.08 million.

(b) & (c): Yes Madam, the production of urea and other fertilizers during the last three years and current year (upto Dec, 17) are as below:

Year Urea A/S DAP Complex SSP Total
2014-15 225.85 4.41 34.44 78.32 42.36 385.39
2015-16 244.75 4.14 37.87 83.01 43.39 413.14
2016-17 242.01 4.90 43.65 79.66 44.18 414.41
2017-18
(upto Dec,17) 177.84 4.14 36.88 63.01 30.03 311.90

(d) : During the last two years GOI has approved revival of five units namely, Ramagundam, Sindri, Gorakhpur and Talcher units of FCIL and Barauni unit of HFCL. The details are given in Annexure.

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