GOI to draft policies on coal-based urea

Road & Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said the Ministries of Chemical and Fertiliser and New and Renewable Energy will soon come out with draft policies in three weeks for manufacturing of coal-based urea and second generation ethanol.

“We want to manufacture coal-based urea in the country as presently we are providing Rs 45,000 crore as subsidy on urea,” Gadkari said.

“We want to promote second generation ethanol. A unanimous decision was taken that Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Chemicals Fertilizers will come out with the policies," he said.

The decision was taken while he was chairing an inter-ministerial meeting, attended by Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh, Coal Minister Piyush Goyal, Science and Technology Minster Harsh Vardhan and Chemical & Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar among others.

He also pointed out that the country earlier faced shortage of coal, but now the coal production is in surplus and the urea plant based on gas and coal can be easily set up.

Once India starts manufacturing coal-based urea production, it would be a great relief for the farmers.

The coal-based urea production is very much common in countries like China, South Africa and the USA.

“If we start making ethanol from bamboo in North-East, lakhs will get employment and several industries will come up,” Gadkari said.

The ethanol production would help the government cut down the country’s crude oil bill, which is pegged at Rs.7 lakh crore per annum.

The policy for ethanol procurement has also been modified to smoothen the whole supply chain and to provide remunerative ethanol prices.

In December 2014, the cabinet had approved the usage of non-food feedstock besides molasses for blending in fuel.