Fertilizer ministry seeks to cut non-urea units off KG D6 gas.

The fertilizer ministry has written to the petroleum ministry to stop supplying gas from Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) KG D6 block off India's east coast to non-urea or phosphatic and potassic (P&K) fertiliser plants, said a fertilizer ministry official who did not want to be identified.

The official said the prices of P&K fertilizers were not regulated and there was no logic in offering them cheaper domestic gas. 'As urea is still a regulated fertilizer, it receives priority,' he added.

A PTI report quoted a petroleum ministry official saying, 'We received a two-page letter from them (fertiliser ministry) on Friday. We will act on it.\'

KG-D6 gas is supplied to P&K plants of Deepak Fertilizers, Gujarat State Fertilizer Corp. and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizer (RCF) at $4.2 per million metric British thermal units (mmBtu).

An official from RCF said the company had not received any intimation from the government so far. 'We receive the KG D6 gas for our integrated plant in Mumbai that produces both urea and non-urea fertilizers. (We are) not sure if we will be impacted,' the official said.


LIVEMINT