Closed urea plant at Ramagundam, Telangana may start commercial production in October: Centre

The government on Tuesday said that the commercial production in urea plant at Ramagundam in Telangana is likely to start from October, helping the country to reduce import dependence.

Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers Sadananda Gowda held a meeting with the CEO of Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (RFCL) to review the progress of construction works of the project, an official statement said.

The minister said that the project was near completion and hoped that it would be ready for commercial production by October this year. He appreciated measures taken by RFCL to overcome challenges thrown by COVID pandemic.

After commissioning, Ramagundam project along with other revival projects at Gorakhpur, Barauni, Sindri and Talcher will reduce the need for urea import by 63.5 lakh tonnes per annum.

RFCL is an upcoming gas based urea unit of 12.7 lakh tonnes per annum capacity at Ramagundam, Telengana.  It is a Joint Venture Company (JVC) promoted by National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL), Engineers India Ltd (EIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL).

 "Once completed, RFCL project will reduce India's dependency on imported urea, save foreign exchange and create jobs," the statement said.

During the meeting, Nirlep Singh Rai, CEO, RFCL, said that the project is about 99 per cent complete. The Centre had announced New Investment Policy (NIP), 2012 to facilitate fresh investment in urea sector and to make India self-sufficient in the urea sector.  Under NIP, 2012, the government is reviving the five closed fertilizer plants.

The five public sector units under revival are Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (RFCL), Talcher Fertilizers Ltd (TFL), Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Ltd  (Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri).

(Photo Credit: PTI)