Govt approves Rs 4500-cr ammonia-urea complex in Assam
The Cabinet also gave its nod for the revival of closed urea unit of Fertilizer Corporation India Limited (FCIL) at Sindri (Jharkhand) with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore
BS B2B Bureau B2B Connect | New Delhi
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In the proposed JV at Namrup, Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL), Government of Assam and Oil India Limited (another PSU) will have 11%, 11% and 26% equity holding respectively and balance 52% by private/public sector entity(ies) which would be inducted through a competitive bidding process.
The setting up of a new ammonia-urea complex will meet the growing demand of urea of North-East, Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. It will also ease the pressure on infrastructure due to long distance transportation of urea from Western and Central Regions and thereby saving in government subsidy on freight. It will accelerate the economic development of the region. The proposed plant will open new avenues for the people of the North-East.
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The annual consumption of urea in the country is approximately 310 LMT, out of which 230 LMT is produced indigenously and rest is imported. To enhance the production of urea indigenously, government has earlier approved the revival of Talcher (Odisha) & Ramagundam (Telangna) units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) by PSUs through ‘nomination route’ and Barauni unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL) & Gorakhpur unit of FCIL through ‘bidding route’. These four units will produce about 52 lakh MT of urea annually.
At Sindri, the unit was lying defunct and was not in operation since 2002. Therefore, the unit and other associated facilities were lying unutilised. It is important to mention here that there is no functional urea unit in the Eastern part of the country except two small units at Namrup (Assam). Earlier, Sindri unit’s revival was to be done through PSUs (SAIL & NFL).
The setting up of a new unit at Sindri will meet the growing demand of urea in Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand. Apart from growth of regional economy, this unit will create opportunities for 500 direct and 3000 indirect employments.
The CCEA earlier had approved gas pooling for urea sector which will enable the unit to get gas at pooled price on its revival which will make the urea units globally competitive.
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First Published: May 22 2015 | 6:52 PM IST