Urea paucity worry may return to north India; 1 mn tonne stuck in ports

The government claims there is no problem for transporting fertilisers

A paucity of urea is worrying farmers for the past few days in several states in north India and the situation — temporarily normal in some places — could aggravate. About 1.6 million tonnes of imported fertilisers, of which 0.9-1 million tonnes is urea, is stuck in ports for want of transportation as of December 24, said sources.

This could go up, as more incoming consignments are on their way and the old stock is yet to be cleared. The affected states are Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Punjab.

According to industry estimates, about 4.5 million tonnes of urea is stuck