With growing global concerns about fertilizer security, India will soon sign agreements with Morocco and Egypt to ensure long-term supply of rock phosphate, a key raw material for the production of Diammonium. Phosphate (DAP) and Nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK).
Chemicals and Fertilizer Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will visit North African countries to sign agreements. The visit can also see Indian companies setting up factories there to produce DAP and NPK for import.
With fertilizer subsidy spending skyrocketing in the current fiscal to $With $2.15 trillion to date, India has adopted a strategy of securing supplies from Senegal, Israel, Oman, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
The supply of DAP from China has stopped in the context of the Ukraine war, which has led to the price of soil nutrients and raw materials skyrocketing. Russia is a major producer of potassium.
At the G20 Summit in Bali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that today’s fertilizer shortage will turn into tomorrow’s food crisis.
India now wants to establish trade and investment links with mineral-rich countries through multi-year investment and import agreements to diversify supplies and protect farmers from resource shocks. bow.
“Morocco has huge reserves of phosphorus, which is an important element for fertilizer production. Therefore, I plan to visit Morocco from January 13-14 to sign a memorandum of understanding with them,” Mandaviya said, adding that an agreement with Egypt is being prepared.
“Under the joint venture, both private and corporate companies will mine, produce and bring fertilizers to India,” he said in an interview.
“Fertilizer security in this day and age is one of the biggest issues.”
Data from the chemical and fertilizer ministry shows that India’s total fertilizer demand is around 43.5 million tonnes. India is completely dependent on potash imports. Imports in the past few years ranged from 2.4 million tons to 4.7 million tons. For Diammonium phosphate, about 60% of the demand is imported. In addition, 25% of the demand for urea and 15% of NPK fertilizer is met through imports.
On December 23, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said that in 2023, the total fertilizer consumption is 401.46 tons while the output is 320.76 tons.
The minister said that India has started to import DAP from China but now China is not supplying to India because it is China who is importing. “But I can say that we have managed fertilizer best during the pandemic,” says Mandaviya.
He said there is no shortage of fertilizer in the country during the pandemic.
The government has introduced several reforms in the fertilizer sector over the past year. “We decided to take advantage of alternative fertilizers. Traditionally, fertilizers such as NPK, DAP are being used, but now we have started to explore urea nano, DAP nano, new type of NPK, bio-fertilizer, organic fertilizer, types of urea and alternative fertilizers,” says Mandaviya. Very effective fertilizer, only a small amount is needed to get results. Earlier this year, India signed many Memorandums of Understanding and joint ventures with mineral-rich countries such as Senegal, Israel, Oman, Canada, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to become a major market for fertilizers.
priyanka.sharma@livemint.com
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