That’s an important strategic move for India’s food security! Based on recent reports, here are the full details about India’s plan to set up its first urea plant in Russia:

🇮🇳🇷🇺 India’s Plan for a Urea Plant in Russia: Securing Fertiliser Supply

The project is a significant step aimed at ensuring a stable, long-term supply of urea, a key agricultural input, and reducing India’s reliance on volatile global markets.

Key Details of the Project

• Objective: To secure a steady supply of urea and insulate India from future price shocks and supply disruptions, particularly after experiencing shortages due to events like temporary export halts by China.
• Location: Russia, to leverage its abundant reserves of natural gas and ammonia, which are the essential raw materials for urea production but are scarce in India.
• Indian Partners: The initiative involves major Indian fertiliser companies:
  • State-owned Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF)
  • State-owned National Fertilisers Ltd (NFL)
  • Government-backed Indian Potash Ltd (IPL)
• Current Status: The Indian companies have signed a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) with Russian partners to commence planning the project.
• Expected Capacity: The proposed plant is projected to produce over 2 million tonnes of urea annually.
• Anticipated Announcement: A formal announcement of the venture is widely expected to be made during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India in December (of the current year).
• Negotiations Underway: The partners are currently negotiating crucial logistical and commercial details, including:
  • Land allocation for the facility.
  • Pricing for natural gas and ammonia.
  • Transportation logistics for shipping the urea to India.

Strategic Importance for India

• Supply Security: It will create a captive and secure source of urea, mitigating the risk of global supply chain disruptions.¹²
• Price Stability: Using Russia’s locally abundant and potentially cheaper raw materials is expected to shield India from the high and fluctuating global prices of urea, which directly impacts the government’s massive fertiliser subsidy bill (FY25 budget was increased to ¹³$\text{₹}1.92$ lakh crore).¹⁴
• Stronger Bilateral Ties: The venture further deepens economic and strategic cooperation between India and Russia, expanding beyond traditional areas like energy and defence into the critical agribusiness sector.¹⁵
• Raw Material Access: India is heavily dependent on imports for raw materials even for domestic fertiliser production.¹⁶ The Russian facility would directly address this raw material dependency.¹⁷

This project marks India’s first fertiliser venture in Russia and is a significant part of its long-term strategy for agricultural self-reliance and food security.