Iffco gets approval to set up $1.6-bn urea plant in Canada

The proposed facility will have a production capacity of up to 1.6 million tonnes of urea and 760,000 tonnes of diesel diesel exhaust fluid

The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative (Iffco) on Saturday said its subsidiary had received permission from the provincial government of Quebec to set up a $1.6-billion urea plant.

A decision in this regard was taken on March 26 by the cabinet of the Canadian province and was notified in Saturday’s edition of the official gazette of Quebec, co-operative said in a statement.

The proposed plant will have a production capacity of up to 1.6 million tonnes of urea and 760,000 tonnes of diesel diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), it said.

The estimated project cost of $1.6 billion is based on the most recent feasibility study.

Sale agreement
La Coop fédérée, an agri-food organisation in Quebec that is one of the project shareholders, has agreed to purchase 500,000 tonnes of urea a year for distribution across the province, Canada and several US states, it added.

“I am extremely happy and satisfied over the development... The plant is scheduled for commissioning by 2017,” Chairman and Managing Director U S Awasthi said.

The cooperative will now focus on the development and construction of the facility, he said. “We will try our best to protect the environment by controlling air, water and soil quality of the area as we have done and shown in India by successfully running the oldest ammonia-urea plant at Kalol, Gujarat,” Awasthi said.

Iffco Canada Chief Executive Manish Gupta said, “Our focus now is on project financing which, once finalised, will pave the way for construction of the industrial complex to commence.”

Location
In January 2013, Iffco’s Canadian subsidiary acquired the land for the plant. The site is at Bécancour Port and Industrial Park, which provides access via land, rail and water to markets across North America.  The deep-water port will also facilitate exports, especially to markets in Europe. Quebec province, Canada’s largest, is located in the east-central region of the country.