(a) whether it is a fact that the cost of production of urea producing
units will come down by using gas in place of Naphtha as fuel;
(b) if so, the extent to which the cost of production is estimated
to be decreased; and
(c) the extent to which the annual savings are assessed to be accrued
following the decrease in cost of production assuming the existing production
capacity as the basis thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND
PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS
AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI SRIKANT KUMAR JENA)
(a) : Yes, Madam.
(b) : During the year 2010-11, the weighted average energy cost of urea
for gas based urea units was Rs. 7271/MT and Naphtha based units was 27862/MT.
(c) : As per policy for Stage-III of New Pricing Scheme(NPS), the
re-assessed capacity of Naphtha based urea units is 18.8 LMT/annum.
Taking into this, the estimated annual savings in energy cost on re-assessed
capacity by using gas in place of Naphtha would be approx Rs. 3883 crore
provided the price of gas and Naphtha remains at the level of 2010-11.