By PRAKASH BHARGAVA
New Delhi, July 24 – The government on Wednesday approved of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT) to sell its surplus land in state of Kerala to reduce the bank borrowings and to implement projects for enhancing fertilizer production capacity and upgrading logistics / raw material handling facilities.
The proposal says the entire land of 481.79 acres of land held by the FACT to be sold Govt. of Kerala at priceassessed by the district collector of Ernakulam. In all, 150 acres of land at the rate of Rs. 1 crore per acre (in lieu, Govt. of Kerala agreed to give free-hold right over 143.22 acres of land to FACT) andremaining 331.79 acres @ Rs. 2.4758 crore per acre.
The revival of FACT will create opportunities for expansion and diversification of the company and this in turn, will help to generate more jobs, both directly and indirectly. The net effect of this will be a boost to the economy of the State of Kerala and improving fertilizer availability to South India.
Reduction of dependence on import of fertilizers and chemicals will facilitate resultant savings in foreign exchange to the country and also improve fertilizers and food security. Through inclusion of fixed timelines for monitoring the implementation of the sale of land, the accountability of the management in achieving performance after the sale of land will be ensured. The unit has already switched over to cleaner LNG as feedstock and fuel, which will improve its energy efficiency and environmental friendliness
The proposal was approved Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also noted utilization of the sale proceeds by FACT to address working capital deficiency, improvement of balance sheet and enabling the company to enhance physical and financial performance by implementing capacity expansion projects for sustainable growth of the company.
