Prime Minister Narendra Modi Lays Foundation Stone for Rs 13,000 Crore Talcher Fertiliser Project

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday Sep 22,2018 said the Rs 13,000 crore-project to revive the Talcher fertiliser plant will for the first time see coal being converted into gas for use as feedstock and for producing neem-coated urea.

The project, which will start production in 36 months, will help cut import of natural gas and fertiliser and make India self-reliant, he said.

The project will produce 1.27 million tonne of neem-coated urea - a crop nutrient, and would use coal-gasification technology to produce feedstock for the plant.

Talcher fertiliser project of the Fertilizer Corporation of India was shut in 2002 by the then BJP-led NDA government as frequent power restrictions, obsolete and mismatch of technology made the plant economically unviable.

The government in August 2011 decided to revive the plant. A new company - Talcher Fertilisers Ltd - was constituted with four state-run companies namely GAIL, Coal India, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers and FCIL as partners.