Prime Minister Dedicates HURL Sindri Fertilizer Plant to the Nation

PM Narendra Modi dedicated Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) Sindri Fertilizer Plant to the nation on 1 March 2024. This plant is located in Sindri, Dhanbad, Jharkhand. Prime Minister Modi had laid the foundation stone of this fertilizer plant in 2018.

Urea requirement per year in India:

• India requires 360 lakh metric tons of urea every year. In 2014, India was producing only 225 lakh metric tons of urea.
• Due to this huge gap between demand and supply, there was a need to import large quantities of urea. Due to the efforts of the Government of India, the production of urea has increased to 310 lakh metric tons in the last 10 years.

Some more plants will be revived by next year:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on this occasion that some more fertilizer plants will be revived by next year 2025. In which Talcher fertilizer Plant will also start in the next year.
• With the implementation of these plants, not only cheap fertilizers will be available to the farmers but also new avenues of employment will open for the local youth.

Self-sufficiency in production of urea:

• By the next year, the country will be able to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of urea by reviving four more fertilizer plants.
• These five plants will be able to produce 60 lakh metric tonnes of urea, which will rapidly take India on the path to self-reliance in this important sector. These major plants include:
  • Sindri Fertilizer Plant (In this series, Sindri Fertilizer Plant has been dedicated to the nation.)
  • Ramagundam Fertilizer Plant
  • Gorakhpur Fertilizer Plant
  • Barauni Fertilizer Plant
  • Talcher Fertilizer Plant

About Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Limited (HURL):

• HURL was incorporated on June 15, 2016.
• HURL is a joint venture company of Public Sector Undertakings (PSU). There are many initiatives under this, mainly: 
  • National Thermal Power Corporation Limited (NTPC),
  • Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)
  • Coal India Limited (CIL)
  • FCIL/HFCL.
• Sindri Fertilizer Unit was revamped by setting up a new Ammonia-Urea Plant with an installed capacity of 12.7 LMT per annum.

Production of Urea from Sindri Fertilizer Unit:

• Sindri plant started production of urea on 05 November 2022.
• HURL was tasked with establishing a new Ammonia-Urea plant at Sindri, with capacities of 2200 TPD Ammonia and 3850 TPD Neem Coated Urea.
• An investment of Rs 8939.25 crore was made for this.
• In this, NTPC, IOCL and CIL each have 29.67 percent equity and FCIL has 11 percent equity.

Government Initiatives for Fertilizer Production:

• Sindri plant is a state-of-the-art gas based plant. Its setting up is a part of the Government's initiative to revive the closed urea units of FCIL and HFCL to achieve self-reliance.
• The government prioritizes reviving closed urea units to boost domestic production and availability.
• The Sindri plant will increase indigenous urea production in the country by 12.7 LMT per year. This will help in realizing the Prime Minister's vision of making India “self-reliant” in the urea sector.

Many areas will benefit from Sindri Fertilizer Plant:

• The plant will supply urea to Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.
• This plant will improve the availability of fertilizer. This will also promote overall economic development in the region including development of basic infrastructure of roads, railways and allied industries.
• This plant will provide 450 direct and 1000 indirect employment opportunities.
• Apart from this, micro, small and medium enterprise vendors will also benefit from the supply of various goods to the factory, which will benefit the sector.

Important Flower Forms:

• FCIL: Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL)
• HFCL: Hindustan Fertilizers Corporation Limited (HFCL)