The Rs 25,650-crore Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Ltd (Iffco) is setting up a gas-based ammonia-urea complex in Canada. Mr A.K. Singh, Senior Executive Director (Technical) of the company, told Business Line that the proposed project would be through a joint venture, Iffco Canada Fertiliser Co, between its wholly owned Dubai-based subsidiary, Kisan International Trading FZE, and a Canadian partner.
The process to select the partner and location of the complex has started, Mr Singh said. He said Americas Petrogas, the Canadian company in which Iffco has a 10 per cent stake, or its subsidiary, with which Iffco has a joint-venture agreement, are not collaborating for this project. The project will comprise two ammonia units and a couple of urea plants including auxiliary facilities. The complex, likely to be located in eastern Canada, will also include a dedicated jetty for export.
Meanwhile, in a pre-project activity on behalf of Kisan, Iffco has received several bids for three expressions of interest from engineering, procurement and construction contractors, both domestic and foreign. “The bid time would end tomorrow morning considering the Atlantic Standard Time,” the Iffco ED said.
The envisaged initial capacity for two single-stream ammonia plants would be 2,200 tonnes a day each. The urea plants will have a capacity of around 4,000 tonnes a day each (which may have two sub-streams). The proposed jetty would have to handle ammonia at a throughput of 1,000 tonnes an hour and urea at 1,200-1,500 tonnes an hour.
The selected contractors are to finish the work within 36 months on lump-sum turnkey basis. “In case of technological constraints each stream of urea may be further split into two streams,” Iffco said.
It further said the engineering, procurement, erection and commissioning of the two streams of the urea plants shall be phased such that the second unit would be in production one year after the first unit goes on stream. However, the auxiliary facilities will become ready with the first urea stream.