Amid rising global fertiliser prices due to the ongoing West Asia crisis, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Indian government may maintain retail fertiliser prices for farmers, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic. Global urea prices have increased from $460 per tonne to nearly $850 per tonne, an 85% rise, while di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) prices have climbed between 25-50% to around $850-1,000 per tonne. To mitigate the impact on farmers, the Union Cabinet approved a 10-21% increase in per kg subsidy rates for non-urea fertilisers for kharif 2026, costing the exchequer about ₹41,534 crore (approximately $5 billion USD), which is 12% more than the previous season. The Indian government has set the fertiliser subsidy for FY27 at ₹1.7 trillion, which is 8.4% lower than the revised estimate for FY26. However, domestic production has weakened, with urea output in March 2026 falling nearly 27% year-on-year, highlighting potential challenges ahead if global prices continue to rise.