State-run miner Coal India today said it has entered into a pact with power major NTPC Ltd for setting up a joint venture firm to revive fertiliser plants at Sindhri and Gorakhpur.
The two firms will produce 1.27 million tonnes of urea per annum.
“CIL & NTPC have signed a joint venture agreement for setting up of a joint venture company at 50:50 shareholding basis for revival of Sindhri & Gorakhpur units of Fertiliser Corporation of India,” Coal India (CIL) said in a regulatory filing.
“The revitalization of these plants would help generate 1.27 million tonnes per annum of urea along with other associated chemicals from each plant, bridging the demand-supply gap of urea which is about 8 million tonnes per annum currently,” the miner said.
“The things, however, are at the initial stage and both the companies will put their heads together in finalizing a detailed roadmap and mapping out other details in a threadbare manner in days to come,” a CIL official said.
The gas would be made available through the proposed Jagdishpur-Haldia pipeline to be constructed by GAIL.
Last year, CIL had entered into a joint venture agreement with GAIL and fertiliser majors RCF and FCIL to incorporate a firm for setting up and operating new ammonia urea complex in Talcher, Odisha.
These agreements are part of the government’s plan to revive loss-making and closed fertiliser plants through JVs of profit-making PSUs with a view to increasing domestic production of the farm nutrient.
Shares of Coal India closed at Rs 282.85 apiece on BSE, up 0.48 per cent from previous close.