abhijit chowdhury, post news network, New Delhi, July 7: The NDA government’s effort to revive the Talcher fertilizer unit refuses to leave the drawing board or so it seems, as the four PSUs, which signed the joint venture (JV) agreements, are yet to file their papers with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), under the ministry of corporate affairs.
The four PSUs which have signed the JV agreement, to set up an integrated coal gasification-cum-fertiliser and ammonium nitrate complex, are, CIL, GAIL, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL).
According to official source, GAlL, which has floated the tender for the coal-gasification has not yet shortlisted the bidders, but the Germany-based firm Lurgi, which is the leader in coal gasification, has emerged as the frontrunner.
The plant will have two distinct divisions on the basis of two JVs — the upstream consortia for converting coal into synthetic gas or syngas, and the downstream plant to manufacture urea and other fertilizers.
GAIL will hold 35 per cent in the upstream venture, called the GAIL Coal Gas (India) Ltd. FCIL will have 11 per cent stake while the RCF and the CIL will pick up 3 per cent stake each in the proposed JV. The balance 48 per cent stake in the company will be given to the technology providers and the financial institutions. The leading players in the downstream venture, the Talcher Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd., would be RCF and CIL, with 40 per cent stake each; GAIL and FCIL will have 10 per cent stake each. The plant would manufacture 1.3 million tones of urea and other fertilizers annually.
India produces less urea than is required to meet its demand. At present, the country produces about 22 million tones of urea. There is a gap of 10 million tones, part of which would be filled by the new venture.
