The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved a grant of Rs 100 crore for the revival of Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizers Corporation Limited (BVFCL) in Namrup in order to sustain operations of it's urea manufacturing units.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who chaired the Cabinet meeting, accorded approval to the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for the grant-in-aid.

BVFCL is a Public Sector Undertaking formed as per Companies Act, under the administrative control of the Department of Fertilizers (DoF), Government of India. The company is currently operating its two vintage plants – Namrup-II and Namrup-III in its premises.

The company has been facing difficulty in maintaining reasonable production level from the existing units in a cost effective manner because of their old & obsolete technology, despite having all the infrastructure and feedstock availability. It is the first gas based urea manufacturing unit in India.

In order to ensure the safe, sustainable and economic operation of the plants, certain equipment and machineries need to be replaced or overhauled. The minimum functional repair to be undertaken for smoother operation of the plants with procurement of mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and catalyst items etc. will cost an estimated amount of Rs.100 crores. Therefore, a Grant in Aid of Rs. 100 crores to BVFCL was approved.

The grant will restore the urea production capacity of 3.90 Lac MT per annum and ensure timely availability of Urea to Tea industry & Farming sector in the entire region.

Due to the same, 580 employees will continue their existing employment on permanent basis and another 1500 on an ad-hoc basis. 28000 people will also be indirectly benefitted by the establishment.