Indo Gulf resumes operations at UP unit

Indo Gulf Fertilisers, the A V Birla group company, said it has resumed production at its Sultanpur plant in Uttar Pradesh after a two-week shutdown.

Natural gas supplies to several fertiliser and industrial units, including Chambal Fertilisers, Indo Gulf Fertilisers, Tata Fertilisers, Gujarat Gas, Reliance Industries, Essar and IPCL, were cut off for a fortnight following a shutdown of the country's largest gas field in Mumbai offshore.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation shut down its BPA platform in the Bassein field, on March 7, to connect it with a new pipeline, leading to a cut in natural gas supplies by 16.8 million standard cubic meters per day (mmscmd) to 20.7 mmscmd.

Indo Gulf's plant resumed production from March 21, after the company's fertiliser complex was shut owing to unavailability of feedstock.

An Indo Gulf spokesperson had said earlier that the shutdown would not impact the company, since production till March was at 8.3 lakh tonne. The company is permitted an annual production capacity at 8.65 lakh tonne, under government regulations.

The spokesperson further said the company will produce the balance capacity of 35,000 tonne in the last ten days of the March. The shutdown would not impact the bottomline, she added.