Kribhco plans third urea plant in Oman

Krishak Bharati Cooperative (Kribhco), a premier cooperative society for manufacture of fertilisers, plans to set up a urea plant in Oman with an annual production capacity of two million tonnes.

Kribhco signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week with Oman Oil Company in this regard. The MoU marks further cooperation between the two firms as they, along with IFFCO, already have two facilities in Oman with an annual production capacity of 1.65 million tonnes.

"The MoU has a provision of bringing more partners into the project with the consent of both Kribhco and Oman Oil Company," a government official said.

The proposed two million tonne plant could be a be a greenfield unit, he added.

In the two Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO) facilities, Oman Oil Company has 50 per cent stake while Kribhco and IFFCO each hold 25 per cent. The JV has a 15-year assured offtake clause.

Last year, the OMIFCO plant produced 1.8 million tonnes of urea and supplied to India at $150 a tonne, the official said.

Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who was present at the signing of the MoU, took up the issue of gas supply with the visiting delegation of Oman which was led by the country's Deputy Prime Minister Sayyid Fahad Bin Mahmood Al Said.

Oman has assured India that there would be no problems as far as gas supply was concerned, the official said.

The government hopes that cooperation with Oman will be helpful to India, which imports urea to meet the rising demand of the fertiliser in the country. Urea prices have surged to $410 a tonne from $280 a tonne in the global market during the last one year.