RFCL gets cabinet approval to revive neem coated urea plant

Cabinet approves extension of applicability of New Investment Policy (NIP)-2012 with amendment to RFCL

NEW DELHI, 10 June 2021: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given its approval for the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for extension of the applicability of New Investment Policy (NIP)-2012 read with its amendment dated 7 Oct 2014 for the Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL).

RFCL is a Joint Venture Company consisting of National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Engineers India Limited (EIL), and Fertilizers Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) which was incorporated on 17 February 2015.

Revival

RFCL is reviving the erstwhile Ramagundam Unit of FCIL by setting up a new gas-based green field neem-coated Urea Plant with the installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Ton per annum (LMTPA). The cost of the RFCL Urea project is INR 6165.06 crore. Gas to RFCL plant is supplied by GAIL through the MBBVPL (Mallavaram-Bhopal-Bhilwara-Vijaipur Gas Pipeline) of GSPL India Transco Limited (GITL).

The state-of-the-art gas-based RFCL Plant is part of the initiative taken by the Government to revive the closed urea units of FCIL/HFCL in order to achieve self-sufficiency in the urea sector. The start of the Ramagundam plant will add 12.7 LMTPA indigenous urea production in the country and help to realize the vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister to make India ‘Aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) in urea production.

It will be one of the largest fertilizer manufacturing units in South India. The Project shall not only improve the availability of fertilizer to farmers but also give a boost to the economy in the region including the development of infrastructure like roads, railways, ancillary industry, etc. besides ensuring food security to the nation.

RFCL has various unique features like the latest technology HTER (Halder Topse Exchange Reformer) to save energy in the production of Urea among single train largest capacity Urea plant, 140 Meter high prilling tower to ensure best quality urea prills, fully automated bagging, and rail/truck loading facility for dispatch of Urea having the capacity to dispatch more than 4000 MT Urea per day, MCR (Main Control Room) equipped with DCS (Distributed Control System), ESD (Emergency Shutdown system for improved safety and availability), On-line MMS (Machine Monitoring Systems), OTS (Operator Training Simulator), Environment monitoring system. The systems are operated by highly motivated, dedicated, well-trained Operations.

The facility integrates the world’s best technologies aiming to meet the demand for urea in Telangana as well as in the other Southern and central states of India, namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, etc. The urea produced at RFCL shall be marketed by National Fertilizers Limited.

Restoration to lead reduction in imports

It may be noted that the Government of India is reviving five closed units of FCIL / HFCL by setting up new Ammonia Urea Plants of 12.7 LMTPA capacity each at Ramagundam (Telangana), Talcher (Odisha), Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Sindri (Jharkhand) and Barauni (Bihar) through the formation of Joint Ventures of leading PSUs with an investment of about INR 40 thousand crores.

On operationalization of these Plants, indigenous urea production will be increased by 63.5 LMTPA which will reduce the import of urea to that extent and will save a huge amount of foreign exchange, and will lead towards self-reliance in the urea sector realising the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister for “AtmaNirbhar Bharat”.