Angul, Oct. 3: The Talcher fertiliser plant, which was shut down in 2002 by the central government, would soon be revived. An investment of Rs 8,000 crore is being made for the revival.

“Construction of the new plant will begin from October 2011, and the urea production will begin by 2012,’’ said Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikanta Jena.

“Three central public sectors companies —Rashtriya Chemical and Fertilizer Limited (RCF), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) and Coal India Limited will be joint partners in reviving the urea plant. Coal gasification technology will be adopted in the new plant for the production of urea,” he said.

“Coal India has agreed to supply 5.5 million tonne of coal per annum for coal gasification. Most of the responsibility for the revival and operation of the Talcher plant will rest with RCF, the urea producing company. The tie-up for the revival of the plant is final. A tender inviting bidders for supplying gasification technology will be floated within 15 days. Fifty per cent of the existing infrastructure of the plant will be utilised, while the rest will be made ready in due time,” Jena added.

The annual capacity of the new plant will be 12 lakh tonne.

General manager M.D. Irfan, who is overseeing the closed plant, said that the Union minister had held a joint meeting with officials of the ministry and the chiefs of public sector units RCF, GAIL and Planning and Development of India Limited. The partnering companies gave demonstrations on their plans to revive the plant.

The Talcher plant, which started functioning in the 70s with coal-based technology, was closed down by the NDA government in 2002.

The plant used to produce between 600 to 800 tonne of urea per day, which was used by the farmers of Orissa and Bengal, said plant officials.