Duty-free trade would reduce product costs for Indian farmers, a leading agrochemical company has said
Russia’s top fertilizer producer PhosAgro has called on India to lift a 5% import duty to ensure stable supplies for the benefit of Indian farmers, the company has said.
Russia became India’s biggest fertilizer supplier in 2022, with exports surging more than five-fold to 2.8 million tons. Supplies of agrochemical products rose by a further 1.5 times in 2023, driving Russia’s share on the Indian market to 25%, according to PhosAgro.
The appeal to drop the import duty comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed in Moscow to boost mutual trade from the current $65 billion to $100 billion within six years.
Following the bilateral talks, Russia and India also pledged to continue cooperation in the field of sustainable fertilizer supplies to India, based on long-term contracts between companies.
PhosAgro, which has been supplying its products to India since the 1990s, said in a statement on Tuesday that it is willing to boost fertilizer exports. However, its “capabilities are limited by trade barriers” which increase the cost of products for the country’s consumers. The removal of the 5% tariff would “benefit Indian farmers both in terms of price and the use of highly effective fertilizers,” the company added.
The producer also suggested creating a free trade zone between India and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). The Russia-led EEU currently brings together five post-Soviet countries, including Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The transition to a duty-free trade regime with Russia would reduce India’s budget spending on subsidizing fertilizers and increase the availability of products for the country’s farmers, according to PhosAgro.
In recent years, India has become one of Russia’s biggest trade partners, since Moscow turned to friendly Asian economies following the imposition of Western sanctions due to the Ukraine conflict. Bilateral trade between the Moscow and New Delhi has already almost tripled in the past two years, with India ramping up energy, fertilizer, and coal imports from Russia.
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