The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (IFFCO), one of India's largest fertilizer makers, plans to build a C$1.2 billion nitrogen plant in Eastern Canada with a Canadian partner.
IFFCO and La Coop federee said on Tuesday that they plan to begin construction in the province of Quebec in two years, and start producing urea, a nitrogen-based fertilizer for crops, in 2017. The project includes an undisclosed investment by Quebec's provincial government.
IFFCO operates five fertilizer production plants in India and holds interests in plants in Oman, Jordan and Senegal. It chose the Quebec site for its access to a port, railway and pipeline for natural gas - which is a key input in nitrogen production - IFFCO said.
Urea is the most used fertilizer in India. In 2011/12, urea consumption in India stood at 29 million tonnes compared to 28.2 million tonnnes a year earlier. India imported 7.83 million tonnes of urea in 2011/12 compared to 6.6 million the previous year.
La Coop federee, a agriculture-based co-operative dating back 90 years and based in Montreal, also has investments in livestock production, meat processing and grain marketing. It plans to distribute its share of urea production from the plant through its 175 stores across Canada.
