Talcher plant to be ready by September '20

BHUBANEESWAR: The fertilizer plant at Talcher, which has been shut since 2002, is set to start production by September 2020.
Four central PSUs the Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL), Coal India Limited (CIL), GAIL India Limited and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) have joined hands to revive the plant with an estimated investment of Rs 8700 crore.
"The revival process would be done through coal gasification route.The plant will have a capacity of 1.2 million tonne per annum. It would directly and indirectly generate employment opportunities for around 4,500 people," said chief secretary A P Padhi after a joint review meeting by the state government and Union ministry of chemicals and fertilizers.
Padhi said the state government would extend all cooperation to the Centre for early revival of the plant.
According to sources, the technical and economic feasibility report for revival of the plant would come up by January 10 while the tender process would be finalized by August.
Spread over 700 acres, the plant was originally set up in 1970. After a decade of operation with ups and downs, the plant was declared a sick unit in 1991 but continued operation till 2002. The Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) announced its closure in 2002 after it made a huge loss, official sources said.
In September 2013, the FCIL had signed an MoU with RCF, GAIL and CIL for revival of this plant during the UPA-II regime.
After the NDA government assumed power at the Centre, an MoU was signed to form two separate joint ventures to revive the plant and also to build a power plant and coal washery facility at the plant site. The coal ministry has also agreed to allot a coal block to the proposed joint venture company on the formation of the same.
Amid a growing demand from different quarters, Union oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan took up the matter with his cabinet colleague Ananth Kumar in August.
To meet the growing fertilizer demand in the country, the Centre has also approved revival proposal for three more closed units at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh, Sindri in Jharkhand and Barauni in Bihar besides Talcher fertilizer plant.