The Hindu : Kerala News : FACT union welcomes revival package

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 13, 2006

Kerala

Kerala

FACT union welcomes revival package

Staff Reporter

`Government should back chemical, fertilizer industries'

KOCHI: FACT PD Workers' Organisation has welcomed the revival package announced for Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) and has reiterated the workers' commitment to meet new challenges in the process of reviving the glory of the public sector fertilizer company. George Thomas, general secretary of the organisation, said here on Monday that chemical and fertilizer industry should get the backing of the Government just as the oil industry. "The industry has played a key role in ensuring food security in the country but has been hit hard by the rise in the price of input items like naphtha, benzene and LSHS," he said.

"While the price of petroleum products have gone up at least 10 times over the last 15 years, fertilizer prices have virtually stagnated. Support for the fertilizer industry should be reflected in fixing subsidy for fertilizers and in fixing the price of fertilizer products. This support is essential for FACT's survival at least till 2009 when the proposed LNG terminal is scheduled to be commissioned," he added.

He said that the revival package for FACT, approved by the Union Government recently, was a result of the combined efforts of the workers and management. He said that the workers, along with the management, including the Chairman and Managing Director, worked hard to put the fertilizer company back on track. The workers, he said, was committed to reviving the glory days of FACT and pointed out that an imaginative management and diversification would help the fertilizer company reach new heights.

The trade unions are open and committed to steps to cut cost and to improve efficiency, he added.

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