Govt may clear FACT revival package within 15 days

The government is likely to clear the revival package of Kochi-based Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) within next 15 days, Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar said today.
A delegation led by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy met Ananth Kumar here today. The major issue of discussion was revival of FACT Plant at Kochi.
Stating that FACT is the mother of all industries in the country, Kumar said the Centre and the state government are taking keen interest in revival of it.
He said the proposal of revival package for FACT which is bigger than the one earlier thought of, is under active consideration of his ministry in consultation with the Union Finance Ministry.

Kumar "expressed the hope that within 15 days, the revival package for FACT would be cleared", an official statement said.
The minister said the package would not only provide for revival of the plant, but also its expansion.

"The Plant will add to the fertilizer security of the South India, and will be a big boon to the Kerala farmers," he was quoted as saying.
Last year, the ministry had proposed a nearly Rs 1,000 crore revival package for FACT, which has been facing financial constraints for quite some time.
Earlier this year, Kumar had said the the government plans to re-work the nearly Rs 1,000-crore revival package for FACT.

In the meeting with Kerala CM, issues concerning Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (HOCL) and Hindustan Insecticides Ltd (HIL) were also discussed.
Regarding HOCL, Kumar said the issue is how to revive it in the wake of international competition. He said the Centre is exploring various options, including proposal of bifurcating HOCL.
On HIL, he said that the Union Health Minister has approved the release of funds for payment of dues and arrears of the employees of the company.
He said that the production of DDT in HIL is decreasing and the Union Health Ministry has been requested to maintain the level of production of DDT.

On the issue of pricing of essential medicines, Kumar said that the Department of Pharmaceuticals is ready to sign a MoU with the Kerala Government for opening up of 200 stores in the state under the Jan Aushadhi Scheme. These could be opened in district, sub-divisional and corporation hospitals.
He informed that the Centre has already included 628 medicines whose prices are fixed under the Drug Price Control Order and this has benefited the consumers by over Rs 1,000 crore.
Kumar said the government further wants to expand the National List of Essential Medicines and has requested the Health Ministry to come out with a new DPCO.

In the meeting, the Kerala CM was accompanied by other senior Cabinet Ministers of the state and KV Thomas, former Union Minister.