Namrup Fertiliser

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma must be congratulated for making a very important announcement in the context of revamping the fertiliser plants at Namrup, which have been ailing seriously for the past two decades or more. As reported in the media, the Chief Minister has said that a new joint venture company is in the pipeline, with the majority equity (40 per cent) remaining with the Government of Assam and leaving the remaining to Oil India Ltd (18 per cent), National Fertilisers Ltd (18 per cent), Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Ltd (13 per cent) and Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Ltd (11 per cent). This is indeed a very good proposal, especially after several attempts by the Government of India to identify potential investors to take up the revamping of the fertiliser factory had failed to evoke any positive result. Very few people in Assam know that the Namrup fertiliser factory, established way back in the early 1960s, is the first natural gas-based fertiliser plant in the country. Very few people also know that the country’s first gas-based fertiliser factory was almost shut down and shifted to West Bengal by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the wake of the Chinese aggression when his government had taken a decision to stop all kinds of investments in Assam and the Northeast for fear of the untrustworthy northern neighbour. Had it not been for a courageous and patriotic bureaucrat called Mohini Nath Phukan, who took up the matter at the highest level, the Namrup fertiliser factory would have been nipped in the bud. In the post-Nehru era, the Namrup fertiliser factory saw at least two expansions, both taking place due to the untiring efforts of MPs like Hem Barua, Ajit Kumar Sarma, Purna Narayan Singha and Dinesh Goswami. It is also a fact that Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal too has been pressing the Centre from as early as his first term as a Member of Parliament. It is, however, the present chief minister who has been able to come up with a proper viable plan to give a new lease of life to Namrup. Reviving the fertiliser plants at Namrup is not just in the interest of the farmers of the Northeast. There is a huge demand for fertiliser in the countries neighbouring the region. Moreover, it will create fresh opportunities for employment and livelihood too.