Ramagundam fertilizer unit to get back in operation

16 Jan '08

2 min read

The Ramagundam factory of Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCI) has been approved for regeneration. This unit had closed operations years ago but the Union Government has decided to revive it with an investment of Rs3,500 crore.

Ramagundam Fertilizer Unit is located about 240 kms away from Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh State and in the district of Karimnagar. The Unit was established at Ramagundam due to abundance of coal that is used as feedstock. It started functioning with a project cost of Rs217 crores.

The decision was announced at a press conference on January 11. The unit was shut down because of over-spending on the purchase of naphtha. The center took this decision after repeated requests made by State Government to reopen the unit to meet insufficiency of fertilizers.

Government has agreed to refurbish the factory and bring about a change of machinery wherever necessary and use gas as fuel instead of naphtha as it is cheaper. Once completely operational, the Ramagundam unit will provide employment to about 10,000 people.

Centre has also agreed to set up a cell to monitor supply of complex fertilizers on lines of the one functioning for urea. It also agreed to subsidize supply of sulphur.

Further, licenses of 89 shops had been either suspended or cancelled for collection of prices higher than MRP on fertilizer sales.

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