RCF Likely To Tie Up With GAIL For Plant In Talchar

Mumbai: The public sector Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers (RCF) is may offer 50 per cent stake to GAIL (India) for the proposed Rs 2,400 crore venture to set up a coal-gas-fuelled urea-ammonium fertiliser plant at Talchar in Orissa. According to the in-principle agreement, it could be a joint venture project with 50:50 per cent stake.

RCF had conducted techno-economic feasibility studies through two to three expert agencies about two years ago for establishing a chemical complex based on production of gas from coal. RCF''s urea plant in Trombay is defunct since the last five years due to insufficient availability of gas. Though RCF had forayed into fuel supply agreements with Reliance Industries and ONGC for gas supply from the Krishna Godawari basin, the prevailing uncertainty in the availability of gas was the prime reason for turning to the coal gassification project. RCF is already in the process of reviving its fertiliser plant at Talchar, along with the Durgapur plant, at an estimated investment of about Rs 6,000 crore.