Shortage forces Zuari Ind to close urea plant

Zuari Industries Limited (ZIL), a K K Birla Group of Companies venture, has shut down its Urea manufacturing plant temporarily due to shortage of feedstock, a senior official said today.

ZIL, a plant based in Vasco town, was severely hit after a multi-functional pipeline feeding naphtha, a raw material for urea, caught fire killing three people and injuring three more, a fortnight ago.

"We had to make a forced shut down as there is no supply of Naphtha," company spokesman Anand Rajadhyaksha told PTI.

The company officials said that the total loss due to closure could not be estimated off hand. The State Disaster Management Authority had ordered stoppage of the pipeline on August 22 as it was required to be checked for the leakages.

The stoppage of pipeline had chocked the feedstock supply for Zuari as they were using it to pump Naphtha from a ship harboured at Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) to the plant site.

The pipeline is a joint venture of Zuari Oil Tanking Private Limited and runs through 12 kms.
    
The state administration has not declared any date of restarting the pipeline, which also carries petroleum products from MPT to the tanking sites.