NEW DELHI, 2 July 2020: In a revive meeting held in the capital, Indian minister of chemicals and fertilizers Sadananda Gowda said that 12.7 Lakh MT per annum capacity Ramagundam urea project is expected to be commissioned by October this year.
The minister said this in a review meeting on the progress of construction works of the project with CEO of Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) Nirlep Singh Rai.
Speaking on the development, the minister observed that the project is near completion and hopefully the project will be ready for commercial production by October this year.
After the commissioning of the Ramagundam project along with other revival projects at Gorakhpur, Barauni, Sindri and Talcher will reduce the need for urea import by 63.5 LMT per annum.
This project completion will also realize Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.
RFCL is an upcoming gas-based urea unit of 12.7 Lakh MT per annum capacity at Ramagundam, Telangana. It is a Joint Venture Company (JVC) promoted by National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), Engineers India Limited (EIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL).
The foundation stone of the project was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 7 August 7, 2016. Once completed, the RFCL project will reduce India’s dependency on imported urea, save foreign exchange and create jobs.
During the meeting, Nirlep Singh Rai gave a brief about the physical progress of various works of the project and said that the project is about 99 % complete. The work at the site got stalled during the lockdown period for some time but has resumed since 3 May 2020.
The availability of manpower at the site is a problem area, but management has adopted proactive measures to retain workers by providing free meals and accommodation to contract workers and payment of wages during the lockdown period, Rai stressed.
The government of India had announced New Investment Policy (NIP), 2012 to facilitate fresh investment in the urea sector and to make India self-sufficient in the urea sector.
Under NIP, 2012, Govt of India is reviving the 5 closed fertilizer plants. The Five Public Sector Units under revival are Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL); Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL); and Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri).
