The Union Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers will soon come out with an action plan to revive eight closed fertiliser manufacturing units across the country, Satish Chandra, Joint Secretary of the ministry, said here today.
"We will ask some of the PSUs to take over. If it does not work, we will look at various options, including the public-private-partnership model, to revive those units," Satish Chandra told mediapersons on the sidelines of a national seminar on India 2020-Chemical Fertiliser Sector 'Government Policies, Challenges and Growth Strategies'.
He said that the shortage of urea in the country would be met to some extent if the units were revived.
The eight closed fertiliser plants belong to the Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) and Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation (HFCL). The units are located at Gorakhpur, Sindhri, Durgapur, Barauni, Haldia, Talcher, Ramagundam and Korba.
He said that each plant has urea-producing capacity of 1.15 million tonnes annually.
Elaborating on the conditions for setting up customised fertiliser plants, he said that at least 10,000 soil tests have to be completed in order to set up a single such unit.
"Based on the soil test and the crop that the farmer chooses to go with, the fertiliser will be selected. The Central Government also provides subsidies for setting up labs," the bureaucrat said.
The new investment policy in the fertilisers sector will be ready soon and would go to the Cabinet for approval in about two months, Chandra said.
Speaking on subsidies for farmers, he said that his department is mulling over various options, including direct cash payment with the help of a smart card.
"Various IT solutions and ERPs are in active consideration to capture the sale of fertilisers, based on which subsidies are given," he said.