The government is yet to take a final decision on a proposal by the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals (DCPC) for revival of the closed units of Fertilizer Corporation of India Limited (FCIL) and Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation Limited (HFCL).

Five units of FCIL and three units of HFCL in the public sector with a total installed capacity of approximately 2.28 million metric tonnes are lying closed.

In addition, one urea unit in the private sector - Duncan Industries Ltd. (DIL) Kanpur - is currently closed due to financial constraints as reported by the company.

Further, the urea unit of Fertilizers & Chemicals Travancore (FACT), Cochin has also been closed down.

According to the DCPC, a proposal for revival of the closed units of HFCL & FCIL was submitted for consideration of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) proposing revival of the three closed units namely Sindri, Ramagundam, Talcher units of FCIL on Nomination basis through the consortium of the public sector undertakings (PSUs) and five closed units namely Gorakhpur, Korba of FCIL and Durgapur, Haldia, Barauni of HFCL through bidding process.

The CCEA has approved the proposal in its meeting held on August 4, 2011, with the stipulation that Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR) proceedings be expedited and thereafter, the matter including changes, if any required in bid parameters, be placed before the Committee for a final decision.