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Nitrogen+Syngas 394 Mar-Apr 2025

19 March 2025

New urea plant for Assam

INDIA

New urea plant for Assam

The existing BVFCL plant at Namrup.
PHOTO: BVFCL

In her Indian 2025-26 budget presentation on February 1st, finance minster Nirmala Sitharaman announced a $1.15 billion investment to build a new 1.27 million t/a ammonia-urea complex at Namrup in Assam province. The plant will be a brownfield development at the Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Ltd (BVFCL) site. Sitharaman said that it was part of the Indian government’s commitment to strengthening agricultural infrastructure and self-sufficiency in fertilizer production. The gas-based ammonia-urea plant is expected to start up in 2028-29 and will supply farmers in northeast and eastern India.

India currently produces around 32 million t/a of urea, short of demand of around 40 million t/a. The new plant is intended to reduce India’s dependence on imports as part of the government’s long-term goal of self-reliance in agricultural inputs and ensuring a stable fertilizer supply to farmers at affordable prices. While BVFCL will operate the new plant, state-owned National Fertilizers Ltd (NFL) will own 18% of the facility, while Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL) is expected to take a 13% stake.

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Ammonia values have continued to ease across most regions at the end of June, as the first ammonia vessels begin to exit the Gulf since the Iranian conflict began. Iranian ammonia had also begun to flow to India following the US Treasury’s issuance of a 60-day sanctions waiver on 22 June, allowing dollar-denominated trade in Iranian petrochemical products through 21 August. As a result, Indian bids have been heard as low as $750/t c.fr, as buyers benefit from a widening pool of available supply - Iranian, Chinese and renewed Southeast Asian material are all competing for the same business.