Govt sets dealine to revive Talcher fertiliser plant in Odisha

The government has set a 100-day deadline for revival of Talcher Fertiliser Plant in Odisha, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar said today.
"We are ready to lay foundation stone in the next three months to start the much-awaited Talcher Fertiliser unit in Odisha. We are going to revive the plant through a joint venture. This will be the first-ever fertiliser plant with coal gasification," Ananth Kumar told reporters here after inaugurating 'India Chem 2016' exhibition.
"We have huge treasure of coal and we are going to finalise the coal gasification technology shortly. We have already formulated joint venture with Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) and Fertilizer Corp of India (FCIL)," Kumar said.

The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 8,000 crore and it will produce 13 lakh metric tonnes of urea per annum, the Minister said.
The government also approved the revival of three closed fertiliser plants -- Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Sindri in Jharkhand and Barauni in Bihar -- at an estimated cost of Rs 18,000 crore, as part of its efforts to meet demand of eastern states and make India self-sufficient in urea output.
"We are working on reviving closed fertiliser plants using coal gasification or other cost-effective technologies to increase the domestic production of urea," Kumar said, adding that the country produced record 245 lakh metric tonnes of urea and there is no scarcity for the same.

The Minister said there is a need to increase the production of chemicals and petrochemicals in the domestic market.

Kumar admitted that the Petroleum, Chemical and Petrochemicals Investment Region (PCPIR) needs to be reviewed and amended.
PCPIR is a specifically delineated Investment Region planned for the establishment of production facilities for petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals.
The Minister urged the industry to give views and suggestions on how to fine-tune PCPIR policies and make them more practicable.
"The country has 22 refineries and we need to think of setting up chemical zones, petrochem complexes, downstream units near to these refineries to get maximum benefits," he said.

On GST, he said, the implementation will help chemical industry save 15 per cent in taxes. Already, 13 states have ratified GST in the last 18 days with with another 16 states to go, which will ultimately be a big boon to India.
The 9th chapter of 'India Chem 2016' has 282 exhibitors from India as well as from Iran, Bangladesh, China and USA, among others.
Kumar also released a Handbook on 'Indian Chemical Industry' and launched the PCPIR logo and website at the inauguration.