GUWAHATI, Jan 31 - The State government has made a fresh push to implement the Rs 7,600-crore expansion project of the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (BVFCL) at Namrup and sought an additional Rs 100 crore as an �interim arrangement� to keep the two functional units running till the new unit�s commissioning.
One of the three units of BVFCL was closed down years ago, while two others are running with obsolete equipment and maintenance requirements. Last year, the industry incurred a loss of Rs 63 crore, and the government feels that they may close down soon if no intervention is made at this stage. The two functional units have around 580 officers and 360 other-category staff.
Official sources told The Assam Tribune that Industry Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary raised the issue of delay in implementation of the expansion project of the fertilizer plant with Union Minister for Fertilizers & Chemicals DV Sadananda Gowda and conveyed the State government�s concern.
The proposed Ammonia-Urea Production Complex (Unit IV) was approved at an estimated cost of Rs 7,200 crore. It may be mentioned that the expansion plan of BVFCL was approved by the Government of India at a Cabinet meeting in May 2015, but was languishing for want of a concerted push. It was initially planned to establish a fourth unit at Namrup as a Brown Field Ammonia-Urea plant, with a capacity of 8.64 lakh MT per annum at a project cost of Rs 4,500 crore and later the expansion proposal was changed to 12.7 LMT per annum at a capital cost of about Rs 7,600 crore on a joint venture basis involving 35 per cent share by National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), 17 per cent share by Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited (RCFL), 26 per cent share by the Oil India Limited (OIL), 11 per cent share under the Government of Assam and another 11 per cent share through resources available with BVFCL.
�The construction of the fourth unit is yet to start and even if it commences immediately, it may take at least 4 to 5 years for completion. As an interim arrangement to ensure that the presently functional Units II and III of BVFCL are kept running with a certain level of efficiency, a minimum of Rs 100 crore has to be sanctioned immediately by the Central government. Unless this fund is made available urgently, the Units II and III cannot function efficiently at the installed capacity of 5.1 lakh tonnes of urea per annum due to obsolete equipment and maintenance requirements. The oldest Unit I, which was commissioned in 1969, was closed down years ago due of end of plant life and obsolete technology,� an industry official said.
