It isn’t a secret that India’s industrial and technological sectors have made rapid strides ahead in the last few decades but interestingly, a major part of the country’s population is still very much dependent on agriculture as the primary source of income. The agriculture sector still contributes to about 15 to 20 per cent to the national GDP. As farming continues to be one of the mainstays for livelihood, fertilizers have been instrumental in meeting the country’s constantly increasing food demands.
By Tanya Rudra
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, around 50 to 60 per cent of the enhanced food production in the last fifty years could be directly attributed to fertilizers. The urban and rural incomes have been on an upward trajectory and the demand for agricultural products is only bound to be higher in the second most populous country in the world. While the South Asian nation is largely self-reliant in meeting its domestic food demands, fertilizer production in India is still not at full capacity. As fertilizer is one of the most crucial ingredients for ensuring food and nutrition security, the country of billion plus people relies heavily on importing. India imports urea, diammonium phosphate (DAP), muriate of potash (MOP) and nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium (NPK). Inconsistent policy, a lopsided usage of urea, delayed subsidy payments to manufacturers, and a lack of investment in the sector have made fertilizer production less favourable in India but the government has plans in place to change the situation. In 2019, India revived five fertilizer manufacturing units, but these plants only focus on the highly subsidized urea.
New NPK plant planned for Kerala
As India hopes to be self-reliant in fertilizer production within a decade, new units are being set up with an investment of Rs 40,000 crore to reduce dependency on imports. One such development was recently announced when Nuberg EPC bagged a 1650 TPD NPK project in India. Nuberg EPC will construct an NPK plant at FACT’s Cochin Division, thereby increasing the total production capacity of complex fertilizers to 3650 TPD. The NPK plant has been commissioned within FACT’s existing manufacturing facility at Ambalam Edu in the Ernakulam district in the South Indian state of Kerala. Nuberg EPC shall be executing this project based on Pre-Neutralizer with Pipe Reactor (PN+PR) technology licensed from INCRO S.A. (Spain). The plant will be capable of producing various grades of NPKs. The company is taking up the project on an LSTK basis and the project is scheduled to be completed by mid-2023.
NPK production plant
This plant will be primarily designed to produce NPK 20:20:0:13 having a rated capacity of 75 TPD in a single stream from PN technology and DAP 18:46:0 using PN+PR technology, meeting FCO requirements using ammonia, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, urea, filler etc. as required.
In addition to above two grades, Nuberg EPC shall be carrying out the design and detailed engineering of the plant to enable future production of different grades of NPKs, such as 10:26:26, 16:20:0, 28:28:0, 12:32:16, & 14:35:14 using ammonia, phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, muriate of potash, urea etc. as required for meeting FCO requirement. Nuberg Engineering Ltd. commented: “We are thankful to the Government of India and the Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd. (FACT) for entrusting another turnkey project to our engineering capabilities and EPC services and solutions.”
The project also demonstrates the strategic importance of Nuberg EPC’s presence in India. This project serves as a prime example of the successful combination of Nuberg EPC’s global expertise and local knowledge to offer a complete turnkey solution.”
About this Featured Story
This Featured Story is an article from our Valve World Magazine June 2022 issue. To read other featured stories and many more articles, subscribe to our print magazine.
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