Draft:Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation
Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizers Corporation Limited (BVFCL) was incorporated on April 5, 2002, after the segregation of Namrup units in Assam from Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL). BVFCL is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Department of Fertilizers, with 100% shareholding by the Government of India. It is the first factory of its kind in India to use associated natural gas as a basic raw material for producing nitrogenous fertilizer.
The first group of plants named Namrup-I, consisting of one sulfuric acid (2×125 TPD), one ammonium sulfate (3×101 TPD), and one 167 TPD Urea-Ammonia plant, was commissioned in January 1969. All these plants are now scraped.
Due to increased gas availability in the adjoining oil fields of M/s. Oil India Limited, the government decided to gainfully utilize this associated natural gas by putting up the 2nd Unit of Namrup Fertilizer Plant. The plant went into commercial production on October 1, 1976. Due to inherent design deficiencies and the use of unproven equipment, capacity utilization was never satisfactory. The plant was put up at a cost of Rs. 74.60 crore with an annual production capacity of 3,30,000 MT of urea.
The availability of surplus natural gas in the Naharkatia-Moran and Lakwa Oil fields led to the addition of the 3rd Unit of Namrup Fertilizer Plant at a cost of Rs. 285.55 crore. The plant went into commercial production in 1987 with an annual capacity of 3,85,000 MT of urea. The Namrup-III plant was the first in the country to use a totally indigenous urea process developed by M/s. Project Development India Limited (a government of India undertaking).
The vintage of the plant technology, equipment, and machines contributed to the poor performance. Due to various reasons, mainly due to frequent equipment failures caused by obsolete and unproven technology, the plants could not perform as per expectations.
Two presently operating units, Namrup-II & Namrup-III, consist of ammonia, urea, and utilities plants. The capacity of the Anmonia Plant of Namrup-II is 480 MT of ammonia per day, and that of the Urea Plant is 800 MT (400×2) of urea in two streams. The capacities of the ammonia plant and the urea plant of Namrup-III are 558 MT per day and 900 MT per day, respectively. Two gas turbines with a capacity of 15 MW each generate electricity to meet the power demand and raise steam for utilization in the complex.
The end product, prilled Neem Coated Urea, is sold under the brand name ‘MUKTA’. The complex is well connected with rail and road, and the product is dispatched and sold in the states of the North East, West Bengal, and Bihar. Both units are producing 100% neem-coated urea as per the GoI directive.
In addition to urea production, biofertilizer and vermicompost are manufactured and sold to farmers through an existing dealer network. To increase market acceptability, the company has gone into the trading business of seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers (MoP, DAP, SSP, rock phosphate, and micronutrients).
Namrup plants, especially Namrup-II plants, are old and operate with some well-acknowledged disadvantages, like plant location, a remote area in the far north-east with known logistic difficulties, and plants of obsolete & unproven technology. At present, plants require extensive maintenance for sustained operation to avoid the breakdown of equipment and machinery. Original spare parts for their machines are not easily available. Many spare parts are prepared by employing reverse engineering and procuring them indigenously. The downtime period due to breakdown gets long as it takes time to get expertise because of the remote location of Namrup.
The Govt. of India, vide its cabinet meeting dated May 21, 2015, decided to set up a new brown field ammonia-urea complex (Namrup-IV Project) in the existing premises of BVFCL, which has a capacity of 8.646 lakh MT per annum and an available gas capacity of 1.72 MMSCMD, through a JV under the public-private partnership mode (PPP), with equity participation of 48% on a nomination basis and the remaining 52% equity through competitive bidding by inviting bids from public and private entities. However, no proposal was received against the competitive bidding.
Further, it was considered for installation of a standard-size gas-based Ammonia-Urea Plant with a capacity of 12.70 lakh MT/annum in place of 8.646 lakh MT/annum through nomination route by forming a Joint Venture of CPSEs and Govt. of Assam. In this project, M/s Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd., Mumbai, will have 52% equity The cabinet note for seeking approval of the proposal for setting up of the plant with capacity of 12.70 Lakh MT/annum through PSU route (52% to M/s RCF, 26% to M/s OIL, 11% to M/s BVFCL and 11% to the Govt. of Assam) is under consideration of the Department of Fertilizers.
The establishment of the above project is required to be urgently taken up to ensure optimal utility of natural gas and continue to cater to the need for urea fertilizer in the north-eastern and eastern parts of India.