Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:
(a) the details of the challenges faced by India in becoming a urea exporting country;
(b) whether the present fertilizer policy is able to achieve the desired result and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
(SHRI HANSRAJ GANGARAM AHIR
(a): At present, there are 30 Urea manufacturing Units in the Country. As against the requirement of 313.36 Lakh Metric Tonne (LMT) during 2015-16, these units produced around 245 LMT and the gap is met through imports. So as to attract fresh investment and make the country self sufficient in urea sector, the Government has notified New Investment Policy (NIP)-2012 on 02nd January, 2013 and its amendment on 07th October, 2014. At present, there are 6 proposals for setting up of Greenfield and Brownfield (Expansion) projects.
In addition, a decision has been taken to revive four closed units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) namely Ramagundam, Talcher, Sindri and Gorakhpur as well as one closed unit of Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL) namely Barauni by setting up of urea unit of 1.27 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) at each location.
(b) & (c): Further, the Government has notified New Urea Policy (NUP) – 2015 on 25th May, 2015 with the objectives of maximizing indigenous urea production; promoting energy efficiency in urea production; and rationalizing subsidy burden on the government. The NUP-2015 has resulted in additional production of approximately 20 LMT during 2015-16 vis-à-vis 2014-15.
***********