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The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has moved a cabinet note to continue subsidy for the three naphtha-based fertilizer plants till they are provided with piped gas connection.
The subsidy to these plants including Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers, Tuticorn-based Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (Spic) and the Chennai-based Madras Fertilizers was discontinued after they failed to meet the government deadline to upgrade their plants to gas-based.
Responding a query on the suspension of production at these plants, Ananth Kumar, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers said "I have moved a cabinet note to extend the subsidy to these plants till they are connected to a gas pipeline. The issue would be taken up in the next cabinet meeting," he said.
While Madras Fertilizers shut its urea production last Wednesday, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers and Southern India Petrochemicals have already discontinued operations. All these units together have annual production of 15 lakh tonnes of urea.
FRESH INVESTMENT
The Government will invest about Rs 50,000 crore to revive four fertilizer plants and set up two new plants at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka.
The revival of two fertilizer plants at Talcher in Odisha and Ramagundam in Andhra Pradesh would be taken up on priority while the project to lay gas pipeline between Haldia in West Bengal and Jagdishpur in Uttar Pradesh will ensure revival of two plants at Barauni in Bihar and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. All these plants are owned by Fertilizer Corporation of India.
The Government also plans two more gas grids connecting Dabhol in Maharashtra with Bangalore and central region covering Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
“The gas grid project has many challenges such as ensuring enough feedstock, tariff concession and infrastructure,” he said.
On slow progress in PCPIRs (petroleum, chemicals and petrochemicals investment regions), he said the Chief Ministers of Rajasthan, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have already approached his Ministry for setting up the investment regions.
In fact, he added, the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh wants the investment region in his state to be announced in conjunction with the ongoing Global Investors' Summit.
INVESTMENT IN IRAN
The Government is in talks with the Iranian Government for setting up a joint venture fertilizer plant in Iran with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore. The plant in Iran will be in line with Oman India Fertilizer Company which is 50 per cent owned by Oman Oil Company, 25 per cent by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative and the rest by Krishak Bharati Cooperative, he said.
Acknowledging the growing bonhomie between Iran and India, Kumar said the first India-owned special economic zone in foreign land would come up in Iran.
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