Assam industries and commerce minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Friday called on Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers D.V. Sadananda Gowda and expressed concern on the inordinate delay of the implementation of the expansion project of Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Ltd (BVFCL) at Namrup in Dibrugarh district.

Patowary told Gowda that the proposed ammonia-urea production complex (Unit IV), estimated to produce 12.7 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) per annum, was approved at an estimated cost of Rs 7,200 crore.

It was initially planned to establish a fourth unit at Namrup as a brownfield ammonia-urea plant, with a capacity of 8.64 LMT per annum at a project cost of Rs 4,500 crore. Later, the expansion proposal was changed to 12.7 LMT per annum at a capital cost of Rs 7,600 crore on a joint-venture basis involving 35 per cent share by the National Fertilizers Limited (NFL), 17 per cent share by Rastriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Limited (RCFL), 26 per cent share with Oil India Limited (OIL), 11 per cent share under the Assam government and another 11 per cent share through resources available with BVFCL.

The expansion plan of the BVFCL was approved by the Centre at the cabinet meeting on May 21, 2015, but was languishing for want of a push.

Patowary also highlighted the fact that while construction and commissioning of Unit IV of BVFCL may take at least four to five years, as an interim arrangement to ensure that the currently functional Units II and III of BVFCL are kept running with a certain level of efficiency, a minimum of Rs 100 crore has to be sanctioned immediately by the department of fertilizers. “Unless this fund is made available urgently, Units II and III cannot function efficiently at the installed capacity of 5.1 LMT of urea per annum,” he said.

Gowda responded positively and assured Patowary that he would call a meeting of all the stakeholders, including the oil and natural gas companies, next month to expedite the construction of Unit IV of BVFCL at the earliest.

Unit I, which was commissioned in 1969, was closed down years ago as the plant’s shelf life expired and also because of obsolete technology.

Natural gas for the new unit would be readily available as the currently under-performing Units II and III are likely to be closed down after commissioning of new Unit IV.