The shares of fertiliser companies staged a rally in the special trading session on Saturday on reports that the Government will soon unveil a new investment policy for the urea sector.
Stocks of state-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertiliser (RCF) and National Fertiliser Ltd (NFL) gained the maximum of close to a fifth on the NSE, which held a special session to upgrade its trading infrastructure.
The BSE also conducted a special session. The benchmark BSE Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower on Saturday.
Other fertiliser stocks, including Deepak Fertilisers and Chambal Fertilisers, also gained in Saturday trade. NFL gained 19.97 per cent to close at Rs 81.10, while RCF gained 19.95 per cent to end at Rs 67.75 on the NSE.
Deepak Fertilisers gained 13.18 per cent to end at Rs 143, while Gujarat Narmada Fertiliser Company gained 8.91 per cent to close at Rs 85.85. Zuari Industries gained 5.41 per cent to end at Rs 486, while Coromandel International gained 3.61 per cent to close at Rs 292 on the NSE.
The Government, which has been talking of a new investment policy for urea for quite sometime now, is likely to announce one in the Budget 2012-13, Business Line had reported recently.
A core group, comprising Planning Commission member and secretaries of ministries concerned, had recently approved a new policy for urea that envisages creating a 1.5-million-tonne (mt) capacity over a five-year period.
A Group of Ministers will examine the policy before being sent for Cabinet approval.
No new capacity addition in urea has taken place in the past 13 years due to the absence of an appropriate policy framework.
This has widened the demand supply-gap over the past decade.
Domestic urea production is estimated at 22 mt, while the consumption is pegged at 29 mt. At present, the country faces a shortfall of 7 mt, which is bridged through imports.