India’s Crop Care Federation of India (CCFI), a leading national association representing 50 agrochemical manufacturers with a 60-year legacy, has formally submitted a detailed memorandum to the Union Finance Minister, urging an urgent increase in import tariffs on agrochemical products. The CCFI warned that the dramatic rise in agrochemical imports is undermining the Indian government’s “Make-in-India” initiative and poses a serious threat to domestic manufacturers.
According to CCFI Chairman Deepak Shah, India’s agrochemical imports surged by 53% over the past five years, growing from ₹90.96 billion in fiscal year 2019–20 to ₹139.98 billion in 2024–25. Despite Indian agrochemical manufacturers collectively investing over ₹400 billion in local production facilities, they face intense competition from lower-cost imports, primarily sourced from multinational corporations and bulk-trading resellers. As a result, nearly half of India’s domestic formulation production capacity remains underutilized, since both technical-grade active ingredients and finished formulations can be imported into India with minimal regulatory restrictions.
The domestic agrochemical sector has long been a net contributor to India’s trade surplus. Data accessed from the Ministry of Commerce on May 19, 2025, shows that Indian companies have seized 85% of the global generic pesticide market, positioning India as the world’s second-largest pesticide exporter, ahead of the United States. However, this success is being threatened by unregulated and indiscriminate imports of finished formulations and raw materials, which CCFI argues have a demoralizing effect on local manufacturers.
In its submission, CCFI recommends that the import duty on finished pesticide formulations be raised from the current 10% to 30%, while the tariff on technical-grade ingredients should be increased to 20%. The organization also proposes a differentiated tariff structure that maintains a minimum 10% gap between technical and formulation imports to encourage local production. CCFI’s senior advisors argue that imported formulations offer no value addition, do not support employment generation, bypass robust quality inspections, and cost Indian farmers more than locally produced alternatives.
Chairman Deepak Shah reiterated that the interests of farmers have always remained at the core of CCFI’s agenda. Pesticides represent less than 1% of the total cultivation cost per hectare, and India’s usage is notably low—just 380 grams per hectare—potentially the lowest globally. Thus, increasing tariffs is unlikely to affect farmers’ income but is essential for ensuring the quality and safety of products in the market. CCFI raised concerns about the purity of imported formulations, suggesting that some may contain expired or substandard active ingredients with unknown toxicity profiles. The absence of rigorous quality checks raises serious environmental and public health risks.
In terms of global competitiveness, CCFI highlighted that exporting countries offer incentives between 9% and 16%, creating an uneven playing field. The federation urged the Indian government to introduce matching export rebates or manufacturing subsidies to help domestic firms compete internationally. It also proposed the establishment of a dedicated regulatory mechanism, including revised Harmonized System of Nomenclature (HSN) codes for agrochemical imports, to enhance classification, monitoring, and compliance.
CCFI firmly stated that only formulations with registered active ingredients—subjected to the same regulatory scrutiny as domestic products—should be allowed into the Indian market. The association noted that many imported formulations currently bypass these controls. As such, it advocates for restricting or even banning finished formulation imports, thereby promoting local manufacturing and job creation.
The federation also emphasized that reducing reliance on imported agrochemicals would help conserve foreign exchange reserves, which are being depleted due to heavy importation. Local production would enable India to retain these funds while also establishing itself as a global manufacturing hub. Chairman Shah affirmed CCFI’s commitment to working closely with the Indian government to safeguard the long-term viability of domestic manufacturers.
He called on the Finance Minister to take swift and decisive action by restructuring tariffs and tightening import regulations. These steps, Shah argued, are essential to protect Indian farmers and businesses, encourage self-reliance, and realize the vision of an “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (Self-Reliant India).
