Union Cabinet approves revival of defunct Fertilizer Units in Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni
The Union Cabinet has approved the revival of three fertilizers defunct Fertilizer Units in Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni.
The three fertilizers units are: (i) Barauni (Bihar) unit of Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Limited (HFCL), (ii) Urea unit of Fertilizer Corporation India Limited (FCIL) at Sindri (Jharkhand) and (iii) Urea unit of FCIL at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh).
Key facts
- These fertilizers units would be revived by means of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Public Sector Units (PSUs) through ‘nomination route’.
- The SPV will include Coal India Limited (CIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and FCIL/HFCL.
- Revival of these fertilizers units will help to meet the growing demand of urea of Bihar, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
- It will also ease the pressure on road and railway infrastructure due to long distance transportation of urea from Western and Central Regions. It will also help in saving Government subsidy on freight.
- It will also accelerate the economic development of the region and create opportunities for 1200 direct and 4500 indirect employments.
Background
- These three units were lying defunct since their closure during 1990-2002. Therefore, the units and other associated facilities were lying unutilized.
- There closure had resulted in lack of functional urea unit in the Eastern part of the country except two small units at Namrup (Assam).
- Earlier in 2015, Union Government had approved revival of these three units through ‘bidding route’. However, the bidding process failed.
Month: Current Affairs - July, 2016