India’s RCF starts work on Talcher urea plant revival in Oct '11

07 October 2010 10:02  [Source: ICIS news]

MUMBAI (ICIS)--India’s Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) expects to begin work on reviving a urea plant in Talcher, Orissa state - with a view to expanding the plant's capacity to 1.1m tonnes/year - in October 2011, a source close to the company said on Thursday.

The plant used to be owned by the Fertiliser Corporation of India (FCI) and has a urea capacity of 495,000 tonnes/year, based on FCI's website. The unit stopped operations since 1999.

RCF, along with joint venture partners Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Gail India, would shell out rupees (Rs) 80bn ($1.8bn) for the refurbishing and expansion works at the Talcher plant, which was also expected to produce ammonium nitrate, the source said.

The planned 1.1m tonne/year plant would be using coal-based gas as feedstock, he said, adding that the plant owners would soon start the tender process to pick a technology provider.

A delegation of officials from the three companies and the government had recently visited China to assess the feasibility of using coal-based gas as feedstock, the source added.

CIL had committed to supply 3.7m tonnes of washed coal with 30% ash content for the project, the RCF source said.

India's rising domestic demand for fertilizers had prompted the government's decision to restart production at eight closed plants across the country, including the Talcher unit.

($1 = Rs44.30)

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By: Priya Jestin

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