Indo Gulf Fertilisers has approached the Environment and Forests Ministry for environmental clearance to its second Brownfield expansion project of urea fertiliser complex at Jagdishpur Industrial Area in Uttar Pradesh\'s CSM Nagar district.

In a letter to the ministry, the company said it wants to increase the production as the current demand-supply gap of urea in the country is nearly 7 million tonnes, which is likely to increase to 10 million tonnes by 2015.

\"This gap is met through imports at exorbitant costs and an unsustainable subsidy burden on the government of India. Inadequacy of port infrastructure in India makes import of urea a wasteful and uneconomical preposition,\" the company said.

The existing production capacity of the unit is 2200 MTPD of ammonia and 3850 MTPD of urea.

The company said the proposed expansion will be located within the existing fertiliser complex and there is no need for any new land acquisition. The total area of the unit is about 15 hectares, 33 per cent of which has been developed into a greenbelt area. More than one lakh trees have been planted inside the complex so far.

The company said that the second expansion project has the following benefits:

1. Advantages of excellent existing infrastructure - gas connectivity and no land acquisition.

2. Proximity to agricultural heartland of India - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar and Bengal.

3. Advantages due to logistics and economies of scale.

4. Time and cost savings if second expansion project is executed as a repeat of the first expansion project due to -
i) savings in engineering man-hours
ii)reduction in cost of equipment and materials
iii)reduction in inventory of capital and two-years\' operation spares.

The company said there are no historical places, archaeological sites, ancient monuments, wildlife sanctuaries or national parks within a 10 km radius from the project site.