RCF to invest Rs 10,000 cr over next five yrs

State-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd (RCF) plans to invest around Rs 10,000 crore over the next five years to revive its closed units, forge joint ventures and expand capacities, a top company official said.

"We plan to invest around Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years in various projects," RCF Chairman and Managing Director U S Jha told said in a seminar here. The company is mulling overseas joint venture opportunities in the West Asia and South Africa, he said.

"We are eyeing a joint venture abroad, mainly for establishing a plant for ammonia, urea and di-ammonium phosphate production," Jha said. He, however, declined to divulge further details. "We are just in talks with various companies. As and when we finalise a deal, we will announce it," he said.

Apart from reviving its closed fertiliser units, RCF also plans to expand its Thar unit to 2.8 million metric tonnes per annum of urea from the present level of 1.7 million tonnes. "Post-expansion, the capacity would stand enhanced to 2.8 million tonnes per annum of urea," Jha said.

The expansion was likely to be completed by 2011-12 subject to availabity of gas, he added. Jha who is also Chairman of the Fertiliser Association of India, said that the fertiliser sector too needs to be deregulated just like the chemical sector. The requirement for subsidy has gone up and the budgetary provisions are inadequate, he said, adding that if subsidy is not immediately granted by the government, working capital management of fertiliser companies would be affected.

"There is an immediate need for increasing budgetary provisions for the sector as prices of all raw materials and fertilisers have gone up," he said, adding that "the government has allocated only Rs 31,000 crore in the Budget while there is a need for Rs 1,00,000 crore." The government should give the subsidy in cash and not through bonds, he said, as there are too many bonds in the market available with heavy discounts.