Oil & Natural Gas Corporation has decided to set up a Rs 5,000-cr urea manufacturing unit in North Tripura district in joint venture with a private company, an ONGC official said.
Khobal has been selected as the site for the project considering its proximity to Khobal gas field from where natural gas (hydrocarbon) would be supplied, the official said.
Last year, ONGC had discovered huge gas reserves at Khobal near the Assam-Agartala National Highway (NH-44).
The commissioning of the project will not only help meet Tripura’s demand but also the urea requirement of the entire North-East region. Besides, fertilisers could also be exported to neighbouring Bangladesh, ONGC sources said.
Last year, Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had urged ONGC CMD Sudhir Vasudeva to set up a fertiliser manufacturing company in Tripura to ensure optimum utilisation of natural gas, sources said.
Following the request, the ONGC had invited expressions of interest for setting up a manufacturing unit and at least three big investors had come forward in this regard.
The oil and gas major is already setting up a 727-MW Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) thermal power plant in the State through ONGC Tripura Power Company (OTPC) at Palatana in Gomati district.
The ONGC has started supplying gas to the project on an experimental basis and yesterday the turbine of one unit was made operational on an experimental basis.
The first unit of the power project (363 MW) is likely to generate power by next month.