Import of urea in the country is restricted and permitted through three State Trading Enterprises i.e. MMTC Limited, State Trading Corporation of India Limited and Indian Potash Limited. Import of all other fertilisers is free and importers are importing these fertilizers under Open General License (OGL) as per their requirements.
The P&K fertilisers like DAP, various grades of complex fertilisers and SSP etc. are being produced in the country, however country is almost dependent on imports by way of imports of raw materials/intermediates or by way of imports of finished Phosphatic fertilizers. There are no exploitable reserves of potash in the country and the country is fully dependent on its import to meet the demand of Potassic fertilisers. The details of P&K fertilizers imported during the last three years are as under:-
Fig in LMT
| Product Year | DAP | MAP | TSP | NPK | MOP (Agri) |
| 2010-11 | 74.11 | 1.88 | 0.98 | 9.81 | 45.00 |
| 2011-12 | 69.05 | 4.94 | 1.60 | 36.73 | 26.94 |
| 2012-13 | 57.02 | 1.52 | 0.00 | 4.05 | 18.80 |
The sales of P&K fertilisers in the country have dropped during the year 2012-13 as compared to the year 2011-12. The details are as under:-
| Product | 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
| DAP | 111.95 | 92.22 |
| MOP | 29.92 | 21.34 |
| NPK | 113.94 | 77.29 |
| Total (in Lakh MT) | 255.81 | 190.85 |
The name of the companies who imported Potassic & Phosphatic (P&K) fertilizers during last three years and the current year are Agrigold Organics Pvt. Ltd, Coromandel International Limited, Chambal Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd., Deepak Fertilizers & Petrochemicals Ltd., Foliage, Green Star Fertilizer Ltd., Madras Fertilizers Limited, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd., Indian potash Limited, Gujarat State Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd., HPM Chemicals & Fertilizes, Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Ltd., Indo Gulf Fertilizers Ltd, Mosaic India (P) Ltd., Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited, Paradip Phosphate Ltd., Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., Sunfert International Pvt. Ltd, Tata Chemicals Ltd., KPR Fertilisers Ltd., Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore Ltd., Shriram Fertilizers, Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd., National Fertilizers Limited, Krishak Bharati Cooperative Ltd., Zuari Holdings Limited.
The countries from where the P&K fertilizers have been imported during the last three years and current year are Australia, Bahrain, Belarus, China, Canada, CIS, Estonia, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Philippines, Russia, S. Arabia, S. Africa, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, Tunisia, USA Ukraine and Vietnam.
Government has taken initiatives to encourage indigenous production in P&K sector by reducing the custom duty on phosphoric acid to enable indigenous manufacturers of P&K fertilizers to procure this important input at reasonable price. The Nutrient Based Subsidy (NBS) scheme has also been announced on P&K fertilizers w.e.f.01.04.2010 to ensure subsidy on indigenous P&K fertilizers at par with imported P&K fertilizers. Government is also encouraging private sector and public sector companies to explore the possibilities for joint ventures abroad to ensure uninterrupted supply of fertilizer inputs to P&K sector.
