New Delhi: India has requested China to ease export restrictions on urea cargoes as the ongoing war in West Asia curtails India’s fuel supply, threatening fertiliser production, Bloomberg reported.Officials have reportedly asked Chinese counterparts to allow the sale of some urea cargoes as the closure of Strait of Hormuz upended India’s supplies of liquefied natural gas, a key feedstock for urea production.Speaking in Guwahati, Assam, on Friday (March 13), Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We have ensured that international crises do not impact farming and agriculture.” Recounting steps taken during the COVID-19 pandemic, the prime minister claimed that the government had then “made every effort to shield farmers from the crisis”.“A bag of urea that costs Rs 3,000 in the international market was provided to our farmers for just Rs 300,” he said.While India has not reported any immediate fertiliser shortage, a prolonged disruption could force the government to seek more supplies before the Kharif season begins in June with the arrival of monsoon rains.The Union chemicals and fertilisers ministry, in a statement on March 6, assured that India’s fertiliser inventory remains “robust, secure, and fully equipped to handle the upcoming Kharif season” even amid global geopolitical uncertainties. It stated that the country had a 36.5% year-on-year surge in overall fertiliser reserves, rising from 12.98 million tonnes on March 6, 2025, to 17.73 million tonnes a year later.Meanwhile, Bloomberg previously reported that some fertiliser makers in India have been forced to shut plants or move up annual maintenance. Gas supplies to India’s fertiliser industry are currently about 70% of their requirement, the report had said.The move appears to be among several unconventional steps countries in South Asia are resorting to to secure important commodities as a time when global trade through West Asia is hit due to US-Israel’s war on Iran, raising concerns for energy and food supplies.As per unnamed officials cited by Bloomberg, discussions are ongoing and a decision has yet to be made.China’s urea exports are under a quota system, where it allocates allowances for other countries while ensuring domestic supply for its spring planting season.India’s allowance was among the shipments permitted last year, as per the report.India has imported 9.8 million tonnes of urea as of February 2026, with an additional 1.7 million tonnes scheduled in the pipeline over the next three months, the fertilisers ministry stated on March 10.Meanwhile, the Bloomberg report said that the government is expected to issue a new urea import tender by the end of this month or early April.India is the world’s most populous nation and the largest grower and exporter of rice and wheat, along with other staples like sugar and cotton.Any impact on India’s fertiliser industry, short-term or long-term, is critical as it can impact India’s ability to feed its estimated 147 crore population.