Yogi's duty waiver dose for revival of Rs 6,500 cr fertiliser unit

UP cabinet waives Rs 210 crore land lease stamp duty for the 1.3 million tonne plant

The Yogi Adityanath government today decided to waive stamp duty of Rs 210 crore on the transfer of land lease, for the revival of the Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited’s (FCIL) Gorakhpur unit.

 

The decision was taken at the 5th state cabinet meeting chaired by Yogi in Lucknow on Tuesday.

 

The 1.3-million-tonne plant is estimated to cost Rs 6,500 crore and span 630 acres. Once completed, it is expected to boost socioeconomic development in the region and spur more investment. Further, it is projected to improve availability of fertilisers to farmers and curb dependence on imported fertilisers, saving precious foreign exchange in the process.

 

FCIL’s Gorakhpur unit is located on NH-28 and is 21 km from Gorakhpur airport. It is a joint venture of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Coal India Limited and Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL).

 

After a series of Cabinet Committee On Economic Affairs (CCEA) meetings in August 2011 and May 2013, the union cabinet on March 31, 2015 had decided to follow the bidding route for its revival. Later, the union government had on July 13, 2016 had given its final approval for the revival of the project.

 

An empowered committee had also been constituted to oversee its revival process, while consulting firm Deloitte was engaged as Project Advisors for assisting FCIL and the ministry of fertilisers in this regard.

 

Further, Projects and Development India Limited (PDIL) was roped in to identify land for the project. PDIL is a company functioning under the control of the ministry of fertilisers.

 

The required land would be transferred from FCIL to the plant. The proposed land lease would be valid for the next 55 years. The project would generate a larger number of direct and indirect employment opportunities.

 

In October 2016, Yogi, the sitting Gorakhpur Member of Parliament (MP), had performed ‘bhumipujan’ for the proposed plant in the presence of company officials. It is expected to be completed in 32 months and the ground work is likely to begin in July this year.

 

Meanwhile, the Yogi cabinet also decided to implement e-tendering and e-procurement in all the governments department for ushering transparency, thus fulfilling one of the pre-poll promises made in run up to the 2017 poll.

 

The cabinet further approved the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill before tabling it in the forthcoming assembly session, scheduled to begin from May 15, so as to allow the proposed tax regime keep its implementation date of July 1, 2017.

 

The cabinet approved a proposal to observe January 24 as ‘UP Day’ to celebrate the state’s contribution to the country’s freedom struggle. The cabinet gave its nod to the new transfer policy for 2017-18, under which all transfers at the government, department, division and district levels have to be completed by June 30, 2017.