Can India's $22 billion fertiliser subsidy keep the Gulf War off your plate?

About this episode

This episode discusses India's fertiliser subsidy policy in the context of the Gulf War's impact on supply chains and prices.

The Indian government approved a ₹41,534 crore fertiliser subsidy for the upcoming kharif season last week, a 12% increase from last year. The move comes as the Gulf War has severely disrupted India's fertiliser supply chains, with urea prices jumping 65% in just 40 days. India is the world's second largest fertiliser importer, and the Strait of Hormuz carries a significant share of both the finished fertilisers and the gas needed to make them domestically. The kharif season, which produces roughly 100 million tonnes of rice, begins in June. In this episode, host Snigdha Sharma looks at India's fertiliser subsidy policy and what its really doing for farmers during this crisis. Tune in. Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.

People in this episode

Host: Snigdha Sharma

Topics covered

• fertiliser subsidy
• Gulf War impact
• agriculture
• India
• food security
• kharif season

Keywords

• fertiliser subsidy
• Gulf War
• India
• urea prices
• kharif season
• agriculture
• food security

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Indian government

Places: India, Strait of Hormuz

More episodes of Daybreak

• Can Adani do with apples what Mahindra did with grapes? · June 12, 2026 · 14 min
• India's mango paradox · June 10, 2026 · 12 min
• Analysts say gas prices are about to crash. India still can't afford to celebrate · June 10, 2026 · 14 min
• LIC has lost its throne to SIPs. It’s still the smartest investor in the room · June 9, 2026 · 10 min
• NEET’s switch from pen-and-paper to computer: damned if you do, damned if you don’t · June 7, 2026 · 11 min
• Why Big Tech is tokenmaxxed out · June 4, 2026 · 12 min