Iffco plans Rs 480 crore capacity expansion

The Indian Farmer Fertiliser Co-operative (Iffco) is set to enhance capacity at four of its plants in two years to help bridge the demand-supply gap for urea in the country.

The fertiliser major also plans to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of naphtha for urea production at its plants at Phulpur. The total cost of project for expansion and changeover of all the four plants is expected to be Rs 480 crore.

"We are enhancing capacity at our plants pursuant to the government policy encouraging capacity enhancement. Capacities will be enhanced at our plants at Phulpur and Aonia in the most economical manner," said S P Yadav, senior general manager, Iffco.

Iffco's four plants "" Phulpur I and II and Aonia I and II "" will have enhanced capacities in the two years. With these modifications, the urea plant at Phulpur-I will be raised from 1670 tonne per day to over 2080 tonne per day. Capacities at each of the other three plants will be enhanced from 2620 tonne per day to 3000 tonne per day. There will thus be a total increase in capacity of 1550 tonne per day.

With the enhanced capacities, Iffco's urea production will go up from 36.89 lakh tonne per annum to 42 lakh tonne per annum, an additional urea production of 5.11 lakh tonne per annum.

Iffco plans to save Rs 365 crore by using LNG instead of naphtha for urea production at its Phulpur plants. In order to reduce costs further, Iffco plans to recover carbondioxide from flue gases released from its Aonia units. This will help meet the requirement for carbondioxide for converting total ammonia into urea.

"The scheme for additional production would be one of the cheapest options for the company.

"The cost of urea production would thus be less than imported urea," said U S Awasthi, managing director, Iffco, at a recent meeting of the board of directors.

The new pricing scheme for fertiliser by the central government has considerably affected the survival of fertiliser industry.

To reduce the cost of production, Iffco has already launched energy savings schemes at its ammonia-urea plants at Kalol, Phulpur- I and II, and Aonia- I and II, which are under implementation at various stages.

The roadmap

• The Indian Farmer Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) is set to enhance capacity at four of its plants in two years
• The fertiliser major also plans to use liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of naphtha for urea production at its plants at Phulpur
• With the enhanced capacities, Iffco's urea production will go up from 36.89 lakh tonne per annum to 42 lakh tonne per annum, an additional urea production of 5.11 lakh tonne per annum
• Iffco plans to save Rs 365 crore by using LNG instead of naphtha for urea production at its Phulpur plants