News: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the National Investment Policy for Urea-2026 (NIPU-2026) to boost domestic urea production under Atmanirbhar Bharat.

About

• Aims to establish 8–9 new gas-based urea plants.
• Seeks to increase domestic production, reduce import dependence and strengthen fertilizer security.
• Replaces the New Investment Policy (NIP), 2012.

Key Highlights

• Adds 10 million tonnes (MT) of annual urea production capacity (≈12.7 lakh MT per plant).
• Introduces transparent subsidy mechanism by separating fixed and variable costs.
• Assures 12–16% Return on Equity (RoE) for investors.
• Mitigates foreign exchange risk by converting fixed costs into INR after four years.
• Provides equal incentives to private, public and cooperative sector projects.

Need

• India consumes about 40 MT of urea annually but produces only 30 MT, importing the remaining 10 MT.
• Enhances self-reliance and reduces vulnerability to global supply chain disruptions.
• Replaces the expired NIP-2012 framework.

Related Initiatives

• Neem Coated Urea (NCU) – Improves nitrogen use efficiency and prevents diversion.
• Urea Gold – Sulphur-coated urea for improved soil health.
• Liquid Nano Urea – Nano-fertilizer developed by IFFCO.
• PM PRANAM – Promotes balanced fertilizer use.
• One Nation One Fertilizer – Markets subsidized fertilizers under the 'Bharat' brand.