India’s fertilizer exports rise 52% in three years as shipments to Brazil surge
India exported about 470,000 tonnes of fertilizer in fiscal 2025-26, up from 310,000 tonnes in 2023-24. Brazil absorbed most of the growth, although India’s fertilizer imports remained vastly larger than its exports.
Exports reach 470,000 tonnes
India’s fertilizer exports increased by about 52% over the three fiscal years from 2023-24 to 2025-26, according to figures cited by Business Standard Hindi from government replies in Parliament and other sources. Export volume rose from approximately 310,000 tonnes in 2023-24 to 470,000 tonnes in 2025-26.
The increase is notable because India remains one of the world’s largest fertilizer importers. Its export volumes are still small compared with the quantities purchased annually from international suppliers, particularly as higher imports and the crisis in West Asia add pressure to the public finances.
Over the same period, fertilizer imports increased by 36.09%, from 20.7 million tonnes in 2023-24 to more than 28 million tonnes in 2025-26, according to the official data reported by the publication. Imports in the latest year were therefore almost 60 times the size of exports by volume.
Brazil drives the expansion
Brazil accounted for a substantial part of the export growth. Indian fertilizer shipments to the country rose from 110,000 tonnes in 2023-24 to 310,000 tonnes in 2025-26, an increase of approximately 175%. The latest volume was equivalent to roughly two-thirds of India’s total fertilizer exports in that fiscal year.
Exports to Sri Lanka also expanded sharply, reaching around 33,000 tonnes in 2025-26 compared with only 816.28 tonnes in 2023-24. Other leading buyers of Indian fertilizer include Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, the Maldives, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The export basket differs from the products that dominate India’s imports. Business Standard Hindi reports that India mainly exports potassium sulphate, fertilizers used for vegetables, organic fertilizer, potassium chloride, ammonium nitrate and organic manure such as animal dung fertilizer.
Import dependence remains central
India buys mainly urea, diammonium phosphate, muriate of potash and other NPKS fertilizers from global markets. Urea and diammonium phosphate are the country’s two most widely consumed fertilizer products. The simultaneous growth in imports and exports therefore reflects differences between products and markets rather than a broad decline in India’s dependence on foreign supplies.
A research paper by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations estimated that India used about 70.7 million tonnes of fertilizer products in 2024-25. That was equivalent to approximately 33 million tonnes of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash nutrients. Against that consumption base, the export increase creates opportunities for producers serving specialized overseas markets, but does not materially change the scale of India’s domestic fertilizer requirement or its exposure to international supply conditions.