Chennai: Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers to allow the functioning of naphtha-based fertiliser plants in Tamil Nadu with subsidies.
In a communiqué to the PM, the Chief Minister said that SPIC, Thoothukudi and Madras Fertilisers Limited, Manali, had to close their operations from October 1.
The letter read that the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs had approved the extension of the subsidy to SPIC, MFL and Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited till September 30, based on an earlier request from former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa.
In his letter, Mr Panneerselvam argued the closure of the two fertiliser plants would adversely affect the livelihood of hundreds of workers. He added that it would also result in the state facing an annual revenue loss of about '220 crore, earned through value-added tax and also affect the general state of the economy.
The two plants had made necessary investments for gas conversion, the letter stated. It added that in the absence of availability of gas and the infrastructure for delivering gas to these two plants, it was not possible for them to change over to gas as feedstock. Unfortunately, the connectivity was yet to materialise.
“The cost differential between gas and naphtha would be nil if the oil marketing companies could supply at export parity prices instead of charging the import parity prices along with their margin,” the letter stated.
Citing these factors, the state government has asked the Centre to allow the functioning of the naphtha-based fertiliser plants with subsidies.
