New Delhi, May 5 -- India's fertilizer subsidy bill touched Rs.2.17 trillion in FY26, exceeding budget estimates and underscoring volatile global input prices and currency pressures, according to two government officials aware of the development.

Additionally, the fertilizer subsidy bill of Rs.1.7 trillion budgeted for FY27 is expected to go up by a fifth as the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz chokes West Asian supplies and drives up global nutrient prices, the officials said.

"The subsidy outlay remains elevated at Rs.2.17 trillion due to sustained government efforts to keep retail prices of key nutrients, particularly urea, stable for farmers in the backdrop of the West Asia war," one government official said, requesting anonymity. ...