Union Cabinet approves exclusive subsidy policy for Urea produced through coal gasification by TFL

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today approved the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for the formulation of an exclusive subsidy policy for Urea produced through the coal gasification route by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL).

The CCEA meeting was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Briefing media about the decision, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said considering the strategic energy security and urea self-sufficiency of the country, looking into the country's vast coal reserves, it has been decided to go ahead with Talcher Fertilizer Limited plant based on coal gasification technology.

This project will help in improving the availability of fertilizer to farmers, which will boost the development of the eastern region. It will also save transport subsidy for the supply of urea in the eastern part of the country, It will also help in reducing Urea imports to the tune of 12.7 LMT per annum leading to savings in foreign exchange.

He added, the project will also give a boost to the 'Make in India' initiative and 'Atma Nirbhar' campaign and would help the development of infrastructure like roads, railways water, etc. providing a major boost to the economy of the eastern part of the country including promoting ancillary industry. The project will also provide new business opportunity in form of ancillary industries in the catchment area of the project.

Coal gasification plants are strategically important as coal prices are non-volatile and coal is abundantly available. Talcher plant shall also reduce dependence on important Natural Gas for the production of urea leading to a reduction in LNG import bill.

The gasification process adopted in the Talcher unit is a Clean Coal Technology giving negligible SOx, NOx and free particulate emissions as compared to directly coal-fired processes.

Talcher Fertilizers Ltd. (TFL) is a Joint Venture Company of four PSUs namely Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF), GAIL (India) Ltd. (GAIL), Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) which was incorporated on November 13, 2015. TFL is reviving the erstwhile Talcher plant of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) by setting up a new greenfield Urea Plant with an installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Ton per annum (LMTPA). The estimated project cost of the TFL Urea project is 13277.21 Crore (+/-10%).