The Hindu : Business : `Allow FACT to import urea'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 26, 2006

Business

Business

`Allow FACT to import urea'

Staff Reporter

KOCHI: K. Chandran Pillai, member of the Rajya Sabha and secretary-general of the FACT Employees' Association, has appealed to the Union Fertilizer Ministry to allow Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) to import urea and persuade other fertilizer companies to tie up with FACT for sale of urea in the latter's traditional marketing areas.

In a letter to Union Fertilizer Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, Mr. Chandran Pillai said that FACT's urea plant was shut down after the Union Government changed its subsidy regime from unit-based to group average scheme. The change had resulted in urea production becoming unviable for FACT.

The matter was brought to the attention of the Union Government and restoration of the old subsidy scheme sought at least until the commissioning of the proposed LNG terminal in Kochi. However, no action had been taken so far on this request. As a result, the availability of urea in Kerala was affected and that farmers were in trouble.

Under these circumstances, the Ministry was requested to permit the import of urea to meet the demand in FACT's marketing areas. At the same time, Mr. Chandran Pillai requested the Ministry to persuade urea-producing companies to tie up with FACT so that it could tide over the shortage of urea in southern States, especially in Kerala.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business