With reference to chemical fertilizers in India, consider the following statements:
- 1.At present, the retail price of chemical fertilizers is market-driven and not administered by the Government.
- 2.Ammonia, which is an input of urea, is produced from natural gas.
- 3.Sulphur, which is a raw material for phosphoric acid fertilizer, is a by-product of oil refineries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only
Statements 2 and 3 are correct; statement 1 is not. Urea, India's main fertiliser, is sold at a maximum retail price fixed by the Government, so the retail price of chemical fertilizers is not wholly market-driven.
- ✗ 1. Urea is sold to farmers at a statutorily notified Maximum Retail Price, whatever its cost of production. Only phosphatic and potassic fertilizers (under the Nutrient Based Subsidy scheme) have prices set by the companies, so 'not administered' is not true for fertilizers in general.
- ✓ 2. Ammonia is made from hydrogen and nitrogen, and natural gas is the main source of the hydrogen (steam reforming). Ammonia is then reacted to make urea.
- ✓ 3. India's elemental sulphur output is largely recovered as a by-product at petroleum refineries. It is turned into sulphuric acid, which is used to make phosphoric acid from rock phosphate.
Remember · Urea has a Government-fixed MRP; P&K prices are company-set under the NBS scheme. Ammonia comes from natural gas; by-product sulphur comes from refineries.
Sources
- PIB, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers: urea MRP and NBS (29 Nov 2024) ↗ “Urea is provided to the farmers at a statutorily notified Maximum Retail Price (MRP) irrespective of the cost of production.”
- IEA, Ammonia Technology Roadmap: Executive summary ↗ “Just over 70% of ammonia production is via natural gas-based steam reforming, while most of the remainder is via coal gasification”
- Indian Bureau of Mines, Indian Minerals Yearbook 2020: Sulphur and Pyrites ↗ “The domestic production of elemental sulphur is limited to by-product recoveries from petroleum refineries and fuel oil used as feedstock for manufacturing fertilizer.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2020, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·