Kerala - Kochi   

Centre sanctions Rs.200-cr. interim relief for FACT

KOCHI: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has cleared a Rs.200-crore interim relief for Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) that was approved by the Committee of Secretaries in October last.

The approval by the CCEA comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured a delegation led by Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan that he would look into the issues raised by the delegation, including the issue of interim relief for FACT.

The interim relief has been given to the ailing fertilizer company in view of the proposed LNG terminal in Kochi, scheduled to be commissioned in June 2011. The proposal for an agreement between the Cochin Port Trust and Petronet LNG Ltd. is also pending before the Cabinet committee, said K. Chandran Pillai, MP, on Thursday. He said the clearances were likely to be given at the earliest to begin work on the LNG project on a war footing.

Meanwhile, arrangements are being made for FACT to procure sufficient quantity of sulphur to begin phosphatic fertilizer production. The move follows the decision by the Union government to provide subsidy for the sulphur content in the fertilizer mixtures from fertiliser producers.

This will pave the way for FACT to get sulphur in spite of the high prices. Mr. Pillai said the price of sulphur had gone up to $580 dollars a tonne from the level of less than $100 a tonne eight months ago.

The State government-owned Small Industries Development Corporation had offered to supply sulphur to FACT. However, the deal appears to have not been finalised.

Meanwhile, a relay hunger strike by the coordination committee of trade unions at FACT has been on for 138 days.

The trade unions have been demanding a special dispensation package for the fertilizer company until the LNG terminal is commissioned and natural gas is made available in Kochi.

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