Nellore: In a bid to put an end to the criticism that they have gone back on their promise to setup a fertiliser plant in the 2,700 acres of land allotted by the government more than two decades back at Racharapadu near Nellore, fertiliser giant, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Company (Iffco) is all set to establish a liquid bio-fertiliser unit using part of the land.
It may be recalled that Iffco called off the plans to launch naphtha-based ammonia urea complex in the same site following steep increase in the cost of naphtha and established Kisan SEZ in 2008 to make use of the land to promote agriculture based industries.
In this backdrop, Iffco came out with liquid bio-fertiliser plant now. Chief executive officer of the Kisan SEZ, Rajasekharaiah said bio-fertiliser would help sustainable development of agriculture and meet Iffco’s vision of helping the farmers of the area including employment opportunity to local people.
The plant would produce two lakh litre per annum exclusively to cater the needs of South India. According to the CEO, liquid bio-Fertiliser would increase the grain yields by 10 to 40 percent, sustain soil health, supplement chemical fertiliser (replace 25 to 30 per cent chemical fertilisers) and stimulate plant growth by secreting growth hormones & Vitamins.
Reacting to a question on legal issues affecting the land allocation in the SEZ, he said the restrictions are not applicable for leasing out the land for industries.
Mr Rajasekharaiah said a huge cold storage facility also coming in addition to the bio-fertiliser plant. The firm, Iffco CRWC Logistics (ICLL) is a joint venture company of IFFCO Kisan SEZ, Central Railside Warehouse Company Ltd (CRWC) and Indian Potash Limited for developing integrated Railside Warehouse Complex and Freight Terminal at the Kisan SEZ.
The project will cater exports originating from catchment districts of South Andhra Pradesh like Nellore, Chittoor, Guntur, Prakasam, Anantapur, Kadapa, Kurnool and Krishna. The major advantage is project location close to Krishnapatnam Port to manage export and import of agro and aqua products smoothly.
Mr Rajasekhraiah reminded that there is acute shortage of cold storage and warehousing facilities in the area and this facility will enhance warehousing infrastructure in the region and act as catalyst to enhance farmers income by realising more revenue from their preserved quality agro products exports sale in the local market.
