Outlook for India–Russia fertiliser imports, projects and solutions
India is rapidly increasing fertiliser imports as its population grows, agricultural demand remains high, and domestic production capacity remains insufficient. Russia already holds a leading position in this market and is poised to broaden cooperation, extending its role in both exports and reverse supplies of specialised chemicals.
Russia strengthens its lead in India’s fertiliser market
Fertiliser consumption in India continues to rise as the country’s population approaches 1.47 billion, making it the world’s second-largest fertiliser consumer after China, with annual use close to 70 million tonnes. India’s overall fertiliser imports are expected to grow sharply: according to the Fertiliser Association of India (FAI), they could reach around 22.3 million tonnes in the 2025–26 fiscal year.
A significant share of this import demand is supplied by Russia. Data from the Russian Association of Fertiliser Producers (RAPU) indicate that, in the first half of 2025, Russia accounted for approximately a third (around 33%) of India’s fertiliser imports, with shipments increasing by about 20% to 2.5 million tonnes. Russia’s overall share of India’s fertiliser imports for the first nine months of 2025 is estimated at around 26%, and industry forecasts suggest total Russian exports could reach about 5.5 million tonnes in 2025.
Russian mineral fertiliser exports (million tonnes)
Source: MMI
In-demand Russian fertilisers in India
Russian producers are strengthening their presence across several key segments. India is particularly interested in:
"India remains the world’s largest importer of urea, and Russian urea competes well in terms of price and supply reliability. In the phosphate segment, India also maintains high imports due to its limited domestic raw material base," notes Artem Suvorov, project lead for the agribusiness and consumer sector at Strategy Partners.
The dominant Russian supplier of potash to India is Uralkali, while the nitrogen and NPK segments are more diversified. Urea and ammonium nitrate shipments to India are mainly handled by Uralkhim, with EuroChem also supplying significant volumes. EuroChem is also a key supplier of complex and other phosphate-based fertilisers (primarily MAP/DAP) alongside PhosAgro, says Maxim Bratchikov, head of the fertiliser department at MMI. According to the company, PhosAgro was able to take advantage of favourable market conditions and redirect additional fertiliser volumes to India, more than doubling sales in this market compared with the same nine-month period last year. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, sales volumes to India grew more than twelvefold.
How to enter the Indian fertiliser and chemical market
The positive growth in fertiliser trade is just one of the areas where Russia and India can offer mutual benefit. Sber can help you successfully enter the Indian agrochemical market, manage payments, close deals, and find reliable partners. Sber’s services in India include financial instruments, project support, and guidance on local regulations and the business environment.
According to MMI, from January to September, imports of Russian urea to India rose by 13% to 786,000 tonnes, while imports of ammonium nitrate increased by 46% to 275,000 tonnes. This growth reflects low nitrogen fertiliser stocks amid rising consumption and declining domestic production, notes Maxim Bratchikov. MAP/DAP purchases in the same period surged to 500,000 tonnes—almost a sevenfold increase—driven by a sharp spike in demand between July and September.
By the end of 2025, imports of Russian nitrogen fertilisers to India are expected to reach 1.4 million tonnes, potash—1.8 million tonnes, and phosphate—700,000 tonnes, predicts Nina Adamova, an expert at Gazprombank’s CEP. Adamova is confident that exports of Russian chemical products to South Asian countries will continue to grow.
In 2026, Maxim Bratchikov expects Russian fertiliser exports to India to stabilise due to the “high base” effect from the 2025 season, as well as India’s framework contracts for over 5.6 million tonnes of phosphate fertilisers per year with other foreign producers, namely Ma’aden and Sabic (Saudi Arabia) and OCP (Morocco).
Promising areas for growth in Russian exports to India
Reverse imports: where India could expand its supplies to Russia
Russia could both increase exports to India and expand the range of Indian products it imports. For example, Nina Adamova believes there is potential to expand trade in crop protection products. India is one of the major producers of agrochemicals needed by Russian agricultural enterprises. Adamova notes that China is currently Russia’s main supplier of active ingredients for crop protection products (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides), and suggests that diversifying imports could enhance the resilience of Russia’s agricultural sector.
Artem Suvorov identifies several areas where Russia could expand imports from India, the first of which is micronutrients and high-margin specialty products. “India is a leader in the development of nanofertilisers, liquid microelements, and zinc/boron formulations. These products are in demand in Russia within niche segments that require precise plant nutrition management,” the expert explains. The second segment with potential is biofertilisers and bioproducts. Suvorov notes that India is actively developing microbial products, organic fermented mixtures, composts, and growth biostimulants. For the Russian market, these are attractive both as alternatives to conventional fertilisation schemes and as components of organic farming. Additionally, opportunities exist in blending, granulation, and coating technologies and services. The expert points out that Indian producers are rapidly advancing coated fertilisers (products with a coating that allows controlled nutrient release), complex micronutrient-enriched blends, and slow-release products. According to Suvorov, these technologies could be adopted by Russian companies to tailor fertilisers to different climatic zones and improve application efficiency.
Promising areas for imports from India
Experts emphasise that India is the world’s largest producer of several agrochemicals, and diversifying imports could help strengthen the resilience of Russia’s agricultural sector.
Joint projects: a new dimension of cooperation
In the near future, the long-standing trade relationship between Moscow and Delhi could enter a new phase with the implementation of joint projects. India’s leading fertiliser producers—Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF), National Fertilisers Ltd (NFL) and Indian Potash Ltd (IPL)—plan to build a urea plant in Russia. This will be their first such project abroad. The joint venture will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes of ammonia and 1.7 million tonnes of urea per year, helping India reduce its reliance on imports, which currently account for 30–40% of its annual urea consumption of 35 million tonnes. As ties between the two countries develop, mutually beneficial cooperation in the production and trade of nitrogen fertilisers is also deepening.
Experts believe that other Russia–India projects are also possible. Artem Suvorov identifies the most likely areas as joint production of NPK formulations tailored to Indian soil health needs, since India actively adapts fertilisers to regional conditions, while Russia is interested in Indian technologies for slow-release (coated/controlled-release) products, specialised micronutrients, and nanoformulations. According to Suvorov, the two countries could also establish joint R&D centres to enhance the efficiency of fertiliser and biosolution production.
Production localisation could go both ways, notes the expert: Indian companies are exploring projects in Russia to secure a stable raw material base, while Russian players are considering sites in India to operate closer to the agricultural end users.