Gadkari Pushes for Urea Plant in Rs. 1 lakh cr investment in Iran’s Chabahar Port SEZ

Industry Objects to Export of Production and Jobs from India

After pledging about Rs 500 crore for developing two existing berths at the Chabahar port off Iran’s south-eastern coast, India is now planning to invest over Rs 1 lakh crore for setting up various projects, including a urea plant, at the Chabahar port special economic zone (SEZ) area provided the nation on the Persian Gulf ensures gas at a lower rate.

Gas is a sticky issue with Iran asking for $2.95 per mmBtu, which is nearly double the price of $1.5 per mmBtu demanded by India.

Addressing a press conference here, road transport and highways and shipping minister Nitin Gadkari said India would further negotiate on the gas price after it assessed the potential investment proposals being vetted by various ministries by September 28. The proposed investment in the Chabahar port would also be finalised soon.

The proposed urea plant could be a big gain for India and would reduce its urea import bill. India imports around 8-9 million tonnes of the nitrogenous fertiliser annually. “If the urea plant is set up in Iran, it will result in slashing of urea prices in India by 50%  and cut the subsidy on urea, which is roughly Rs 80,000 crore now,” Gadkari said.

On the modernisation of the country’s 12 major ports, Gadkari said his ministry plans to improve their efficiencies by increasing the level of mechanisation to 80% from 60% now and the average turnaround time to less than 2 days from 4 days now. The cargo handling capacity of the ports would also improve by around 400 MT to 1,230 MT in the next two years.

All the funds on mechanisation would be spent by the ports themselves. In addition to the existing one, four other ports would also equipped to handle cape-size vessels, he said.