Two Week RFCL Shutdown Threatens Urea Supply Amid Drought

RFCL officials reported that a leak in the ammonia supply elbow pipes has forced the two week shutdown. Normally producing 3,500-4,000 tonnes of urea daily, the plant now faces an estimated 50,000 tonne production loss after repair attempts failed.

The shutdown will hit seven states, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Telangana’s Karimnagar, Warangal, Adilabad, Nizamabad and Mahbubnagar districts, which depend heavily on RFCL, will be hardest hit. The state was slated for 60,000 tonnes this month but received only 30,800 tonnes.

RFCL manager B. Ajay Kumar told Deccan Chronicle that the plant’s annual capacity is 1.3 million tonnes, which the Central Department of Fertilisers distributes monthly: a typical 1,00,000 tonne month sends about 30,000 tonnes to Telangana, 15,000 tonnes each to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, with the balance split among Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh under Central guidelines.

Kumar added that Telangana’s immediate buffer stock of about one million tonnes should prevent an acute shortage. A team of experts is working around the clock to repair the leak and resume production swiftly.

Meanwhile, the Central government has mobilised senior officials to RFCL for contingency planning and has promised to dispatch additional experts if needed. Peddapalli MP Gaddam Vamshi Krishna, who recently visited the plant and had been assured that production was normal, urged ministers not to cut Telangana’s supply; two days after his visit, the leak occurred, bringing supply to a standstill.