The government is planning to impose a strict regulatory regime to check the easy availability of ammonium nitrate, which is a preferred ingredient in improvised explosive devices (lEDs) used in terror strikes. The Draft Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2009, prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), seeks to regulate and put restrictions on the loading and unloading of bulk ammonium nitrate from a ship, its import, export, transport, possession for sale and use, except as permitted under the rules. The use of ammonium nitrate, also commonly used as fertiliser, has been reported in bomb explosions in Varanasi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Faizabad, Hyderabad and the serial blasts in Bangalore.