The Fertiliser Ministry on Friday took steps to firm up a roadmap for domestic green urea production, convening a pre-Expression of Interest (EoI) meeting with stakeholders to deliberate on a plan that remains at the consultation stage.
The meeting was chaired by Joint Secretary KK Pathak, who also serves as Chairman and Managing Director of state-run PDIL. The EoI had been floated earlier to gauge market interest and technical readiness across the value chain.
“The massive turnout — online and offline — from prospective players across the entire value chain is a clear indicator of the keen intent to bring this initiative to reality in the near future,” the ministry said in a statement.
The roadmap envisages financial support spanning multiple ministries, though allocations remain proposals pending formal approvals.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has been assigned a potential outlay of Rs 19,744 crore to accelerate green energy infrastructure. The Department of Fertilisers (DoF) has been tasked with creating an institutional and market-parity framework to integrate green ammonia into the national fertiliser manufacturing chain, with the financial contours of its role yet to be worked out.
A key concern flagged at the meeting was the cost differential between green and conventional grey ammonia. To address this, the roadmap proposes a differential subsidy mechanism on the offtaker side.
Under the proposed arrangement, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) would act as an intermediary -- procuring green ammonia from producers and supplying it to domestic fertiliser companies at grey ammonia-equivalent prices, benchmarked to a two-week average of Platts and Argus indices, adjusted for customs duties and local logistics costs. The DoF would cover the residual price difference.
On the supply side, financial incentives under the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) -- Green Ammonia Mode 2A -- have been proposed.
A procurement target of 7.24 lakh tonne per annum of green ammonia is envisaged, to be allocated via competitive e-reverse auction managed by SECI. If approved, support would be available across development and operational stages, secured for a 10-year period through a binding definitive agreement.
Discussions drew on the 150 TPD Green Urea pilot plant at Pudimadaka, Andhra Pradesh -- developed by NETRA, the R&D arm of NTPC — as a technical reference point. The facility integrates Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCUS) systems with water electrolysis.
India currently imports around one crore tonne of urea annually, with many domestic plants over 30 years old, pointing to the need for significant fresh capacity.
Green urea production requires carbon dioxide as a synthesis feedstock, making captured CO₂ from thermal power, cement, and steel plants an essential input. A world-scale urea plant of 12.7 lakh tonne annual capacity would require nearly 10 lakh tonne of CO₂ per year.
The ministry noted that integrated projects — combining renewable energy, green hydrogen, carbon capture, and ammonia synthesis — could position the fertiliser sector as one of India's largest consumers of captured industrial carbon, supporting the country's net-zero goal for 2070. How the consultation process unfolds, and whether private players find the proposed incentive structure commercially attractive, will determine the pace of progress.
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