KOCHI: The ailing public sector Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) may get a fresh lease of life with Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving an in-principle approval for setting up a urea plant with an estimated investment of Rs 6,000 cr. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters in Delhi on Friday that the state has presented the proposal for a 1.2 million per annum capacity urea plant at FACT using LNG as a feed stock.
The Chief Minister said the future of the project hinges heavily on the completion GAIL Gas Pipeline project from Kochi to Mangalore as a confidence booster for the public sector companies to make investment in the project. The project will require an immediate investment Rs 1,800 cr comprising 30 per cent of the total project cost of Rs 6,000 cr. The Prime Minister has assured that PSUs such as ONGC and GAIL could be persuaded to make such investment.
But, the completion of the pipeline connectivity from LNG Terminal in Kochi will be prerequisite for winning the confidence of these companies, Pinarayi said. The Prime Minister has assured that these companies will be persuaded on the basis of the progress in the completion of the pipeline network. The Chief Minister pointed out that the urea plant in FACT using Naptha as feedstock was shut down in 2002 as it became economically unviable.
The setting up of the LNG Terminal in Kochi has opened the possibility for establishing urea plant at a much larger scale, he pointed out. India now imports much of its urea requirements, he added. The Chief Minister has also said that Mr. Modi has accepted the proposal for utilizing the land belonging to FACT for the industrialization of the state under the supervision of public sector undertakings.
At present 650 acres of the FACT remained unutilized. Out this 170 acres are set aside for the projects of BPCL leaving 450 acres. The state government agency Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) proposes to set up petrochemical complex and Pharma Park in the 450 acres, Pinarayi said.
