SAIL may tie up with NFL for Rs 4,450-cr urea plant

State-run SAIL is likely to form a joint venture with National Fertilisers (NFL) for its proposed Rs 4,450 crore-urea manufacturing plant in Jharkhand's Sindri, in which the steelmaker will retain the majority stake.

"NFL is the likely partner for SAIL's fertiliser plant, but nothing concrete has been decided yet," a fertiliser ministry official told PTI.

The shareholding pattern of the proposed venture would be worked out on a later date depending upon the outcome of the detailed project report (DPR), he said, adding that the company might retain the majority stake in the JV.

The DPR, he said, would take some time to be ready.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last week gave its nod to SAIL's plan for setting up plants for manufacturing of steel and fertiliser, and generation of power at the closed Sindri facility of erstwhile Fertiliser Corporation of India.

The steelmaker had subsequently said it plans to invest around Rs 35,000 crore to set up a 5.6 mtpa steel making plant, a 1.15 mtpa fertiliser plant and a power plant of "suitable" capacity.

The proposed gas-based urea plant would be set up after dismantling and disposing of the existing urea facility at the site, SAIL said, adding that it was scouting for a suitable partner for the fertiliser project.

"The Government has already given in-principle consent to allocate natural gas for the project," it said.

NFL is the second largest nitrogenous fertiliser maker in the country, with over 15 per cent share in the domestic urea production that stands at over 20 million tonnes a year.

India needs to annually import 5-6 million tonnes of urea to meet the demand-supply gap.