Chinese firm Wuhuan to implement coal gas-based Talcher urea project

China's Wuhuan Engineering Co Ltd was on Tuesday awarded a lump sum turnkey (LSTK) contract to build India's maiden urea plant based on gas produced from coal at a cost of Rs 13,277 crore by September 2023.

The project Talcher in Odisha will convert 2.5 million tonnes of coal and 0.35 million tonnes of petcoke into syngas that would be used to make 1.27 million tonnes of urea, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said at the contract signing ceremony.

"The Talcher fertilizer plant was shutdown in 1999 due to financial losses. 20 years later, we have handed over work order for revival of the same," he said.

The gas produced from process called as coal-gasification will be competitive in price when compared to natural gas, he said.

"The project will be commissioned by Septmeber 2023," the minister added.

Wuhuan Engineering Co Ltd was selected as the LSTK contractor for implementing the coal gasification and ammonia/urea packages of Talcher Fertilizers Ltd following rigorous tendering process.

Pradhan said Wuhuan has rich EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) experience in coal gasification plants.

In order to augment the domestic urea capacity, revival of closed fertilizer units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd (FCIL) has been top priority agenda of the government.

Accordingly, the government has mandated TFL, a joint venture company of RCF, Coal Indai Ltd, FCIL and GAIL, to revive the Talcher unit.

TFL has been allotted northern part of North Arkhapal mine as captive mine for meeting its coal requirements and petcoke will be sourced from Paradip refinery of IOCL.

Fertilizer Minister Sadananda Gowda said the project will improve India's self-sufficiency in urea and reduce imports.

Further, success of this technology shall open up new areas in the Indian energy context leading to alternative use of high ash Indian coal in the areas other than conventional thermal power production.