CCEA approves subsidy policy for urea produced through coal gasification by TFL

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has given its approval for the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for formulation of exclusive subsidy policy for urea produced through coal gasification route by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL).

An official release said on Tuesday that it has been decided go ahead with Talcher Fertilizer Limited plant based on coal gasification technology considering the strategic energy security and urea self-sufficiency of the country looking into the country's vast coal reserves,

It said the project shall improve availability of fertilizer to farmers, boost development of eastern region and will save transport subsidy for supply of urea in eastern part of the country. It would assist in reducing urea imports to the tune of 12.7 LMT per annum leading to savings in foreign exchange.

Coal gasification plants are strategically important as coal prices are non-volatile and coal is abundantly available. The gasification process adopted in Talcher unit is a Clean Coal Technology giving negligible SOx, NOx and free particulate emissions as compared to directly coal fired processes, the release said.

TFL is a joint venture company of four PSUs -- Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF), GAIL (India) Ltd. (GAIL), Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL).

TFL is reviving the erstwhile Talcher plant of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) by setting up a greenfield urea plant with the installed capacity of 12.7 lakh metric ton per annum (LMTPA). The estimated project cost of the TFL Urea project is 13,277.21 crore.

( With inputs from ANI )