As importing raw materials hit by global conflicts, country’s top cooperative and fertiliser major IFFCO is scouting to set up joint venture manufacturing facilities in countries including Sri Lanka, Jordan and Senegal, with an option of buy back, KJ Patel, managing director, IFFCO has said.
Detailed Plans for Key Resource Countries
“In, Sri Lanka, we are looking to set up a joint venture to make di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) or phosphoric acid as the country has good-quality rock phosphate, while in Jordan it is looking to expand phosphoric acid-making capacity from 0.5 million tonnes (MT) to 1 MT,” Patel said in his first select media interaction on Tuesday
IFFCO is looking to explore rock phosphate mining in Senegal in order to manufacture either phosphoric acid or DAP and bring it back to India.
Securing Supply
“Getting good-quality raw materials is increasingly becoming a challenge, for which one either has to pay more or incur a higher financial burden. A viable option is to set up manufacturing units in those parts of the world where these resources are available in abundance,” Patel said.
Last week, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers, National Fertilizers and Indian Potash signed the MoU with UralChem, Russia’s largest potash and ammonium-nitrate producer for setting a urea plant of 2 MT capacity is expected to ensure steady supply of soil nutrients to India, and cut costs of imports.
The biggest such joint venture project of India’s Iffco and Kribhco is ‘Oman India Fertiliser’ which produces around 1.65 MT of urea annually.
India imports about a third of its fertilizer – urea, DAP, NPK and potash consumption of over 60 MT annually.
India’s fertiliser imports is projected to increase by over 41% to 22.3 MT in the 2025-26 compared to FY25 due to a surge in domestic demand following robust monsoon rains, the fertilizer association of India (FAI) has stated.