Overview
- GAIL and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday to form a special purpose vehicle to develop a gas-based urea plant with a planned capacity of 1.27 million tonnes per year.
- The companies say the plant is envisaged for the Vidarbha region along GAIL’s Mumbai–Nagpur–Jharsuguda natural gas pipeline so the pipeline can supply the natural gas feedstock needed for urea production.
- Senior executives Sanjay Agarwal of GAIL and Jyoti Patil of RCF signed the MoU in the presence of GAIL CMD Deepak Gupta and RCF CMD S. Shivakumar, who framed the deal as combining GAIL’s gas infrastructure with RCF’s fertilizer experience.
- One local report put the project cost at about Rs 10,000 crore, but the companies describe the MoU as a non-binding step and have not announced final approvals, financing or a construction timeline.
- Next steps include detailed feasibility work, formal SPV formation, regulatory clearances and funding decisions, with the companies saying the project should help cut urea imports, raise domestic supply and support regional industry and jobs.