Announcement of new urea plant in Namrup, Assam

03-Feb-2025 01:39 PM

The announcement of a new urea plant in Namrup, Assam, is a significant step toward enhancing India’s domestic fertilizer production capabilities.

With an annual production capacity of 12.70 lakh tonnes, this new plant will help reduce the reliance on urea imports, which currently do not meet the domestic demand.

The two existing plants in Namrup, operated by Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizers Corporation, have lower production capacities and are unable to meet the growing need for urea, a key fertilizer used during the sowing of Kharif and Rabi crops.

This new plant has been in the works for several years. Initially planned in 2015 as part of a brownfield ammonia-urea complex under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, the project faced hurdles when private companies did not bid on it.

With this new announcement, the momentum for its construction is expected to pick up, potentially boosting fertilizer production and addressing the challenges faced by farmers who rely heavily on subsidized urea for crop cultivation.

The importance of this development is particularly clear in light of the ongoing gap between India’s urea demand and domestic production.

The plant's establishment will likely reduce the pressure on the government to continue offering heavy subsidies to import urea, which is a priority chemical fertilizer.

It will also contribute to self-reliance in fertilizer production, benefiting agricultural sectors across the country.