GAIL India is likely to buy 5-10% stake in Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizer’s (RCF) urea and ammonium nitrate plant at Talcher in Odisha. The state run firm wants to take a minimum 50% stake in the Rs 3,000-crore upstream coal-gasification project that will produce enough natural gas to not just fire the fertiliser plant but also a captive power plant. Also, the captive power plant will generate surplus electricity which will be sold to the grid.
RCF, GAIL and Coal India (CIL) had previously come together for a Rs 10,000-crore project to convert coal in Talcher mines into gas and then use it as feedstock for manufacturing urea and power. But GAIL has not been very keen on being part of the urea and ammonium nitrate plant and wants to be restricted to upstream element of the project, i.e. coal gasification.
