Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers to get Navratna status: Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar

Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers (RCF) will be granted the 'Navratna' status, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said on Friday. The company's Thal III project in Maharashtra will also be given special priority, he added.

RCF is a Miniratna company. The 'Navaratna' status will provide the company greater financial autonomy. Once granted the Navratna status, it can take investment decisions for up to Rs 1,000 crore.

"We will give special priority to the Thal III project in Maharashtra including granting of Navratna status to RCF," Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers Ananth Kumar said at the foundation stone laying ceremony of the RCF-BPCL sewage treatment plant here.

Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd is engaged in production and marketing of nitrogenous and complex fertilisers, besides industrial chemicals at its manufacturing units in Trombay and Thal in Maharashtra.

The company is expected to start the Thal III project in the next financial year and it is estimated that around Rs 4,500 crore would be invested in the project, with a capacity of about 1.27 million tonne (mt) of urea per annum The government is also planning to divest at least 5 per cent stake in RCF in 2015-16.

RCF had reported net profit of Rs 83.95 crore for the first quarter ended on June 30. RCF has annual capacity of 2.5 MT of urea and 7 lakh tonnes of complex fertilisers.

RCF-BPCL is also setting up a sewage treatment plant to treat 22.75 million litres per day of municipal sewage and convert it into 15 million litres per day of "treated water" at a cost of 200 crore. The project would be completed within 28 months after the contract is awarded.