Madhumitha Jaganmohan
Research expert covering climate and environmental sustainability
Fertilizer industry in India - statistics & facts
Fertilizers are incredibly vital in agricultural production as they provide necessary nutrients for crop growth and development. They play a key role in the agricultural process, significantly contributing to the overall yield. The indispensable role of fertilizers has led to a consistent increase in the global demand for agricultural fertilizer. India, as an agrarian country, houses numerous small and marginal farmers and often struggles with low productivity and quality. Crops are primarily rain-fed and cultivated on a single piece of land over time, leading to a gradual decrease in soil fertility in many areas. As a result, the use of nitrogen fertilizers has increased significantly in the country. The Indian government has implemented various economic reforms to help make fertilizers more affordable and boost agricultural productivity, leading to improvements in the nation's food security.
The state of the Indian fertilizer industry
As one of the country's eight core industries, fertilizer production has shown consistent positive growth since 2014. Preliminary figures for the 2023 fiscal year shows a significant rise of 9.6 percent in India's fertilizer production, compared to the previous year. India is one of the world's top fertilizer consumers, with consistent growth in domestic sales. NPK fertilizers are the most commonly used type in India, with urea being the most popular among them. The domestic consumption of urea was higher than the volume produced domestically. Domestic production has decreased due to the closure of many urea plants, and accordingly, the share of imported urea has increased considerably in the past years. Alongside the importation of crude and manufactured fertilizers, the country is heavily dependent on importing raw materials such as rock phosphate, ammonia, and phosphoric acid. In fiscal year 2022-2023, India imported fertilizers worth over 1.38 trillion Indian rupees.Market leaders in fertilizer production
The fertilizer industry in India is made up of several government and private sector companies that manufacture a range of different fertilizer types. The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) is a multi-state cooperative society based in the country's capital and one of largest fertilizer producers in India, having produced 9.6 million metric tons of fertilizers in the 2023 financial year. In November 2023, Fert and Chem established itself as India's leading fertilizer company by market capitalization, however, it faced significant competition from Coromandel International, India's second-largest fertilizer manufacturer by market capitalization. As one of India's leading phosphatic fertilizer manufacturers, Coromandel International Limited had a production volume of about 2.8 million metric tons in fiscal year 2021. The company manufactures a wide range of fertilizers, pesticides, and specialty nutrients and is a leading agricultural solutions provider.
