Nano Urea Usage Can Reduce Fertiliser Subsidy Bill By Rs 25K Annually

A parliamentary panel has urged the government to speed up the production of the liquid nutrient and make India self-sufficient, taking into account how the use of nano urea replacing roughly 25–50 per cent of conventional urea can help the government save about USD 3 billion (Rs 25,000 crore) in subsidy bills each year.

Concerns have been raised about the overuse of conventional urea and the steady rise in urea imports over the years, which increased from 5.5 million tonnes (MTs) in 2016-17 to 9.8 MTs in 2020-21.

According to the panel, the subsidy burden on account of urea import accounts for 26 per cent of the total urea subsidy paid in a year by the government.

On 1 August 2021, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers and India Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) began producing nano urea commercially (RCF). 

As a substitute for traditional urea, soil nutrients in liquid form give plants nitrogen. A 45 kg bag of regular urea is equal to a 500 ml bottle of nano urea.