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Data Intelligence Report

India’s Fertilizers:
Production, Imports and Use

Nitrogen (N), phosphate (P) and potash (K) fertilizers, 2014-15 to 2025-26, in thousand tonnes of nutrients. How much India makes, how much it buys abroad, and how balanced its farmers’ fertilizer use is.

Source: Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers (Table 1.22)
Nutrient
Year
Consumption
–
Production
–
Imports
–
Imports’ share of supply
–
N : P : K use ratio
–
Made at Home or Bought Abroad?
Supply
Columns: production and imports. Line: consumption. Supply and use do not match exactly in any year because of changes in stocks. 2025-26* covers April to October only.
Import Dependence
Imports as % of production + imports
Imports
India produces no potash, so potash is always 100% imported (top line). 2025-26* is April–October, when imports run ahead of production.
What Farmers Apply
Consumption by nutrient, thousand tonnes
Use
Nitrogen (mostly urea) makes up about two-thirds of all fertilizer nutrients used.
An Unbalanced Diet for Soil
Nitrogen and phosphate used per unit of potash (K = 1)
N:P:K ratio
Dashed lines show the widely recommended 4 : 2 : 1 balance for Indian soils. Use has drifted further from it as potash use stagnated.
How Self-Sufficient?
Domestic production as % of consumption
Self-sufficiency
100% would mean home production could cover all use. Potash is 0% throughout.
Ten-Year Change
% change, 2014-15 to 2024-25
Growth
Compares full years only (2025-26 is partial). Potash has no domestic production.
2025-26 So Far
April to October 2025 as % of the full 2024-25 year
Partial year
Seven months is 58% of a year (dashed line). Imports of nitrogen and phosphate in April–October 2025 already exceeded the whole of 2024-25. Fertilizer use is seasonal, so these shares are a guide, not a forecast.
Full Data
Thousand tonnes of nutrients · click a heading to sort
Full Dataset
* 2025-26 up to October 2025. The source’s N, P and K rows add up exactly to its “All fertilizers” row in every year.
Key Findings
🌱

Use up 29% in ten years

Fertilizer use rose from 25.6 to 32.9 million tonnes of nutrients between 2014-15 and 2024-25. Production rose faster (34%), so imports fell slightly.

🏭

More urea made at home

Nitrogen production jumped from 13.8 to 17.1 million tonnes between 2021-22 and 2023-24, and nitrogen imports fell from 5.6 to 3.7 million tonnes (2020-21 to 2024-25).

⚖️

Potash left behind

Potash use fell 6% while nitrogen rose 31%. The N:P:K ratio widened from 6.7 : 2.4 : 1 to 9.3 : 3.5 : 1 (11.8 : 4.6 : 1 in 2022-23), far from the recommended 4 : 2 : 1.

🚢

Imports surge in 2025-26

In just April–October 2025, nitrogen and phosphate imports already topped the whole of 2024-25, lifting imports to 38% of supply from 29%. Phosphate self-sufficiency fell from 68% to 61% over the decade.

Source: Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India: Table 1.22, Production, Import and Consumption of Fertilizers (thousand tonnes of nutrients), 2014-15 to 2025-26. Notes: Figures are nutrient content (N, P₂O₅ and K₂O), not product weight. 2025-26 covers April to October 2025 only. India has no potash production, so the source has no potash production row (shown as zero). Supply (production + imports) and consumption differ because of stock changes. The 4 : 2 : 1 N:P:K benchmark is the balance generally recommended by Indian agricultural agencies; it is shown for reference and is not part of the source table.
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