Cabinet approves grant-in-aid of Rs 100 crore to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation

New Delhi, February 11, 2021

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday accorded approval to the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for a grant-in-aid of Rs 100 crore to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL), Namrup in Assam to sustain its urea manufacturing units.

BVFCL is a public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Department of Fertilizers. At present, the company is operating two plants, Namrup-ll and Namrup-lll.

Despite being the first gas-based urea manufacturing unit in India and having all the infrastructure and feedstock availability, the company has found it difficult to maintain a reasonable production level from the existing units in a cost-effective manner because of obsolete technology. To ensure safe, sustainable and economic operation of the plants, certain equipment and machinery need to be replaced or overhauled, an official press release said.

The minimum functional repair to be undertaken for smoother operation of the plants with the procurement of mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and catalyst items have an estimated expenditure of Rs 100 crore, it said.

The grant-in-aid will restore the urea production capacity of 3.90 lakh MT per annum and ensure timely availability of urea to the tea industry and the farming sector in the entire North-Eastern region. It will also protect the employment of about 580 employees on a permanent basis and another 1,500 persons on an ad-hoc basis. Further, 28,000 people will get indirect benefits, the release added.

NNN