Fertiliser Min seeks assured gas from Ghana for RCF urea plant

The Fertiliser Ministry has sought from Ghana assured gas supply at reasonable price for the proposed $1 billion urea plant of Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers (RCF) at the West African nation.

 

Recently, an Indian delegation led by senior fertiliser ministry officials and RCF officials visited Ghana to discuss the gas supply and pricing issue.

 

"In June last week, the delegation visited Ghana and during the discussions it has been conveyed to the authorities there to give us assured supply of gas. We have also asked them to quote rates for gas," a company source said.

 

"We expect that Ghana will quote the gas price by next month," he added.

 

In 2010, India and Ghana had signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to set up the urea plant with initial capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum at Shama district in western Ghana.

 

Both the countries had to identify one company from each side for executing the project. RCF is nominated by the Indian government to participate in the project.

 

The project would start once the gas prices are fixed, sources said.

 

After the successful implementation of IFFCO's urea plant in Oman, Indian government and fertiliser companies are eyeing offshore ventures to met the domestic urea demand.

 

India needs about 30 million tonnes of urea annually compared with domestic production capacity of 21-22 million tonnes. The shortfall in supply is met through imports.