13November 2026, New Delhi, IN: India’s Union Cabinet approved Nutrient Based Subsidy rates for phosphatic and potassic fertilizers for the Rabi 2026-27 season on Wednesday, setting a tentative budgetary requirement of approximately 62,370.02 crore rupees, according to a Press Information Bureau release.
That figure is roughly 24,417.73 crore rupees higher than the 37,952.29 crore rupees budgeted for the Rabi 2025-26 season, an increase of about 64%. The subsidy covers 28 grades of phosphatic and potassic fertilizers, including di-ammonium phosphate, known as DAP, and various NPKS grades that combine nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur. The approved rates apply from October 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027, covering the Rabi winter cropping season.
The government’s stated rationale is to rationalize the subsidy in view of recent trends in international prices for fertilizers and the raw materials used to make them. The Press Information Bureau release said the step would ensure fertilizers remain available to farmers at subsidized, affordable and reasonable prices despite those cost pressures abroad.
Industry Flags Global Price Swings
S. Sankarasubramanian, chairman of the Fertiliser Association of India, said the move helps protect farmers from volatility in global fertilizer and raw material markets, a reference to the price swings in internationally traded urea, DAP, muriate of potash and sulphur that have pushed up input costs for Indian fertilizer companies over the past year.
The Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme reimburses fertilizer manufacturers and importers for the difference between a notified per-nutrient subsidy rate and the market price of phosphatic and potassic inputs, allowing retail prices for farmers to stay well below what the raw materials cost on international markets. The scheme excludes urea, which is subsidized separately under a different, decades-old pricing mechanism. The exact per-kilogram subsidy rates for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulphur under the newly approved Rabi 2026-27 rates were not detailed in the government’s release.
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