Ramagundam Fertilizers to commence commercial urea production from November

Hyderabad: The Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited (RFCL) is expected to commence urea production from November as against the scheduled June due to the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic, officials of the PSU said on Thursday.

Union minister of state for Home G Kishan Reddy reviewed the plant progress with the officials of RFCL through video conferencing.

The officials informed the minister that as of August 15, the plant achieved overall physical progress of 99.67 per cent.

RFCL, a joint venture of Engineers India Limited, National Fertilizers Limited and Fertilizers Corporation of India is located at Ramagundam in Telangana.

The gas-based plant has the capacity to produce 1.27 million tonnes of urea per annum.

"Anticipated mechanical completion of the plant is by September 20. Thereafter commissioning activities will take five to six weeks time for urea production. The anticipated additional delay for urea production, (earlier scheduled for June 30) due to lockdown and COVID-19 impact is four to five months. Therefore in the present scenario, urea production is expected by the end of October 2020 and SCOD (Scheduled CommercialOperationDate) by mid November 20," the officials informed the union minister.

The revised project cost is Rs 6,175 crore (Rs 1,721 crore equity and Rs 4,454 crore debt).

The original estimated cost is Rs 5,254 crore.

Besides NFL, EIL which have 26 per cent equity GAIL has 14.3 per cent, FCIL, Telangana Government -11 per cent each state while the rest is with others.

The plant has capacity to produce 2,200 tonnes per day of ammonia also, according to RFCL's website.

The official informed the minister that 30-40 per cent workforce of contractors who had left for their native places after the lockdown was imposed, did not return.

The RFCL officials sought the deployment of Central Industrial Security Force personnel at the plant, for which Reddy responded positively.

The minister asked for a report on the job opportunities for local youth in the plant and also opined that the fertilizers need to be supplied to Telangana farmers on priority basis as the facility is located in the state.

He cautioned the RFCL on the safety precautions to be taken in view of the recent incidents.

He is expected to visit the plant in September.