Dhanbad, April 10: The closed factory of Fertiliser Corporation of India in Sindri, after prolonged wait, will soon hit the revival path, thanks to PSU major Coal India that has pledged to restore the dilapidated unit to its former glory.
Union coal secretary Anil Swarup, who arrived in Dhanbad yesterday to attend the second day of the 37th convocation of Indian School of Mines (ISM), today said that the NITI Aayog yesterday cleared the decks for revival of three closed fertiliser factories located in Sindri, Barauni (Bihar) and Gorakhpur (UP).
While ONGC will help resurrect the Gorakpur unit of Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation Ltd, CIL and NTPC will pump funds into the two FCI units in Sindri and Barauni, respectively.
On the Sindri unit, Swarup said that the process had already started and the first round of discussions in this regard was held last week while the next meeting would be convened next week. "The things are, however, at the very initial stage. A survey will be carried out to find out land availability in Sindri and ascertain other aspects, following which a detailed project report will be prepared," he told newsmen at Koyla Nagar Community Centre in the presence of BCCL chairman-cum-managing director N. Kumar.
The coal secretary, who also visited Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) today, further said that a special purpose vehicle would be set up for the project.
Sources said that the Union cabinet last year had decided to resurrect the Sindri, Barauni and Gorakhpur factories through open bidding and accordingly invited expression of interest for the purpose. However, the response was not encouraging as only Adani Group had bid for Sindri and Matix for Gorakhpur while Barauni found no taker.
Then, the Centre decided to revive the three closed fertiliser factories with the help financially sound organisations like Coal India, ONGC and NTPC. Finally, the NITI Aayog cleared the proposal.
Set up in 1951, FCI in Sindri was India's first factory to produce ammonium sulphate. Since 1959, it started producing urea and ammonium nitrate sulphate. It employed more than 12,000 employees during its heydays. But, it was declared sick in 1992 and the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) recommended its closure in 2001.
Later, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the Government of India, decided to waive the FCI's liabilities, including loans and interests, worth Rs 10,078 crore in 2013. The FCI was declared out of BIFR on June 27, 2013, paving the way for revival of the Sindri factory.
Initially, SAIL was planning to make an investment of Rs 35,000 crore in Sindri for a project including a 5.6MTPA steel plant, a 1.15MTPA fertiliser unit and a 1,000MW power plant. But, later it decided to pull out due to various reasons.
