Lok Sabha Question No. 2165 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-12
Subject: New Urea Plant
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Shri Balashowry Vallabhaneni

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF FERTILIZERS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2165 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.12.2025

## New Urea Plant

2165: Shri Balashowry Vallabhaneni:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) the  details  of  each  of  new  Urea  plants  started  in  the  country  along  with  their production capacity since 2019;
- (b) whether it is true that all new plants started from 2019 are not producing to their full capacity, if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) the  reasons  that  Nagarjuna  Fertilizers and  Chemicals in  Andhra  Pradesh  and Kanpur Fertilizers and Chemicals in UP with production capacity of 2 million tons are shutdown; and
- (d) the  manner  in  which  the  Government  is  planning  to  address  the  increased demand of Urea every year?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS

## (SMT. ANUPRIYA PATEL)

(a): The  Government  had  announced  New  Investment  Policy  (NIP)-2012  on  2 nd January 2013 and its amendment on 7 th  October, 2014 to facilitate fresh investment in the Urea sector and to make India self-sufficient in the Urea sector. Total 6 new Urea units have been set up under NIP-2012. Out of these units, 5 units have been set up since 2019 with the production capacity of 12.7 LMT per annum which are as under:

1.  Chambal Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (CFCL), Gadepan-III, Rajasthan.
2.  Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. (RFCL), Ramagundam.
3.  Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL), Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
4.  Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL), Sindri, Jharkhand.
5.  Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL), Barauni, Bihar.

(b): Since  2019, CFCL Gadepan-III  unit  has  produced  Urea  beyond  their  annual production capacity.

All three units of HURL are operating at more than 100% capacity. However, during the commissioning and initial stabilization period, there were few operational issues for which timely corrective actions have been taken. The present average production by three units of HURL is 105% of their production capacity.

RFCL unit has reported production losses as it was forced to shut down three times due to issues related to the HTER while the remaining 20 major shutdowns occurred due to failures in the Steam Superheater Coil (E-203), Boiler Feed Water (BFW) PreHeater (E-212), leakage in the synthesis gas line of the ammonia converter (S-50), Inter stage synthesis gas cooler (E432) and failure of the semi-lean flow control valve (FV-3032). RFCL unit is currently running at HTER  bypass  mode  and  LOI issued to Topose (Ammonia Licensor) to the repair work HTER tube bundle as single point responsibility.

(c): With regard to the shutdown of Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals (NFCL) in Andhra  Pradesh,  it  is  stated  that  AM  Green  Ammonia  (India)  Private  Ltd.  has purchased  Ammonia-Urea  assets  of  NFCL  situated  at  Kakinada  I  &  II  under SARFEASI process from Asset Care and Reconstruction Enterprise Private Limited (ACRE)  and  took  possession  of  the  assets  on  1 st   June  2024.  Unit-II  of  NFCL continued  production  of  Urea  till  31 st   May  2024  while  Unit-I  of  NFCL  continued production upto 4 th  June 2024. Thereafter, both of the units are under shutdown.

Kanpur  Fertilizers  and  Chemicals  Plant  in  UP  was  under  financial  burden  which henceforth resulted into shutdown of the plant.

(d): With regard to Urea, the Government had announced New Investment Policy (NIP) - 2012 on 2nd January, 2013 and its amendment on 7 th  October, 2014 to facilitate fresh investment in the Urea sector and to make India self-sufficient in the Urea sector. Total 6 new Urea units have been set up under NIP-2012 which includes 4 Urea units set up through Joint Venture Companies (JVC) of nominated PSUs and 2 Urea units set up by the private companies. The units set up through JVC are Ramagundam Urea unit of Ramagundam Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd (RFCL) in Telangana and 3 Urea units namely Gorakhpur, Sindri and Barauni of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL)  in  Uttar  Pradesh,  Jharkhand  and  Bihar,  respectively.  The  units  set  up  by private  companies  are  Panagarh  Urea  unit  of  Matix  Fertilizers  and  Chemicals  Ltd. (Matix)  in  West  Bengal;  and  Gadepan-III  Urea  unit  of  Chambal  Fertilizers  and Chemicals Ltd. (CFCL) in Rajasthan. Each of these units has installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Tonne per annum (LMTPA). These units are highly energy efficient as they are  based  on  latest  technology.  Therefore,  these  units  have  together  added  Urea production capacity of 76.2 LMTPA, thereby total indigenous Urea production capacity (Reassessed Capacity, RAC) has increased from 207.54 LMTPA during 2014-15 to

283.74 LMTPA during 2023-24. Further, an exclusive policy for the revival of Talcher unit of FCIL through JVC of nominated PSUs namely Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL) by setting up a new Greenfield Urea plant of 12.7 LMTPA at coal gasification route has also  been  approved.  Recently,  the  Union  Cabinet  has approved  the  proposal  for setting up of a new Brownfield Ammonia-Urea Complex of 12.7 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) annual capacity of Urea production within the existing premises of Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL), Namrup, Assam.

In addition, the Government also notified the New Urea Policy (NUP) - 2015 on 25 th May,  2015  for  the  existing  25  gas-based  Urea  units  with  one  of  the  objectives  of maximizing  indigenous  Urea  production  beyond  RAC.    The  NUP-2015  has  led  to additional  production  of  Urea  by  20-25  LMT  as compared  to  the  production  during 2014-15 annually.

Above steps together have facilitated increase of Urea production from level of 225 LMT per annum during 2014-15 to 306.67 LMT of Urea during 2024-25.

Further, following steps are taken by the Government before every cropping season for ensuring timely and adequate availability of fertilizers, including Urea, in the country:

i.  Before  the  commencement  of  each  cropping  season,  Department  of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), in consultation with all the State Governments, assesses the State-wise & month-wise requirement of fertilizers.

ii.  On the basis of requirement projected by DA&FW, D/o Fertilizers allocates adequate quantities of fertilizers to States by issuing monthly supply plan and continuously monitors the availability.

iii. The movement of all major subsidized fertilizers is monitored throughout the country by an on-line web-based monitoring system called integrated Fertilizer Monitoring System (iFMS).

iv. Regular Weekly Video Conference is conducted jointly by DA&FW and D/o Fertilizers  with State  Agriculture  Officials  and  corrective  actions  are  taken  to dispatch fertilizers as indicated by the State Governments.

v. The gap between demand (requirement) and production of fertilizers is met through imports. The import for the season is also finalized well in advance to ensure timely availability.

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