Govt secures additional gas for urea plants via spot auction; output to rise by 13,000 tonnes/day
NEW DELHI, Mar 19 (PTI): The government has procured additional natural gas through a spot bid to ramp up urea production at fertiliser plants, which have been operating well below capacity due to a fuel shortage amid the West Asia crisis, a government official said on Thursday.
Fertiliser plants in the country require about 52 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) of natural gas to operate at full capacity, but were receiving only around 32 MMSCMD, meeting barely 62 per cent of their requirement, resulting in a significant shortfall in urea output, the official told PTI.
To address this, a spot auction was conducted, where plants collectively sought 8.56 MMSCMD of additional gas. The bid secured 7.31 MMSCMD, with supplies to be delivered immediately from March 19 to March 31, the official said.
