Chemicals and Fertilizers Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda told Lok Sabha on July 24 that Indian fertilizer companies formed a consortium import approach through Indian Potash Limited after the Strait of Hormuz closure threatened DAP, TSP, and ammonium sulphate supply for Kharif 2026.
In a joint meeting, companies nominated IPL to coordinate imports on behalf of the industry rather than bidding individually. Nadda said the approach secured required quantities of DAP, TSP, and ammonium sulphate for the country.
The parliamentary answer attributes the 12% rise in Kharif 2026 Nutrient Based Subsidy outlay to Rs 41,533.81 crore mainly to higher benchmark international prices for DAP, MOP, and sulphur used in the NBS formula.
That outlay is roughly Rs 3,581 crore above the previous Rabi 2025-26 season, reflecting the same West Asia cost shock that pushed India's separate 20% sulphur and acid subsidy proposal now awaiting Cabinet review.
On export policy, Nadda said no representation arrived from the Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Representations did reach the Director General of Foreign Trade from CHEMEXCIL and a group of domestic sulphur-dependent manufacturers seeking export restrictions on elemental sulphur to secure domestic supply.
India had been a swing sulphur exporter in early 2026 before refinery exports effectively stopped in May. An export-restriction debate would invert that role and tighten Pacific tonnes available to other phosphate consumers.
Special DAP support provisions, including Rs 3,500 per tonne for other costs and GST components, disbursed Rs 900.97 crore from April through June 2026 to hold retail bags near Rs 1,350 per 50 kg.
Those provisions sit on top of the NBS sulphur nutrient rate fixed at Rs 3.16 per kg for Kharif 2026, up from Rs 2.87 per kg in the prior rabi season.
India's annual sulphur requirement for the P&K fertilizer industry runs 30-35 lakh metric tonnes, with additional industrial consumption in chemicals, refining, and rubber per a separate August parliamentary answer.
Morocco, Indonesia, and China are major sulphur importers that normally draw Middle East tonnes through Hormuz. India's consortium import and possible export-curb debate show how the shortage is forcing government intervention beyond benchmark subsidy formulas.
Alberta recovered sulfur still leaves mainly through the Vancouver stem. An Indian export curb would not change Alberta production but could redirect Pacific cargo competition if Chinese and Canadian tonnes face a larger South Asian bid.
Desk read: the Lok Sabha disclosure confirms CHEMEXCIL's export-restriction ask and quantifies how much New Delhi already spent to hold DAP bags flat in Q2 2026. The consortium import story is the supply-side mirror to the August 14 DoF sulphur subsidy draft.