In a major push toward self-reliance in fertilizers, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved the National Investment Policy for Urea-2026. The policy aims to facilitate the establishment of eight new plants, generating an additional 10 million tonnes (mt) of output to completely offset India’s current import dependence on the nitrogen nutrient. Open to public, private, and cooperative sector participation, the initiative is projected to pump up to ₹90,000 crore of fresh investment into the domestic fertilizer sector if targets are met.
With an annual capacity of 1.27 mt, a greenfield Urea plan entails an investment of $ 1.2-1.5 billion, while a brownfield unit with the same capacity may incur $ 900 million, industry sources said. Briefing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the new policy would help set up 8-9 new plants and make the country achieve self-sufficiency in urea. “India’s import dependence has come down due to the addition of six new plants in the last decade. Creation of additional 8-9 new plants will help the country meet its complete requirement locally and make it Atmanirbhar in Urea,” Vaishnaw said.
