IFFCO arm to set up $1.6-bn urea plant in Canada’s Quebec province

Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO), the leading player in the country's fertiliser industry, today said its Canadian subsidiary has received permission from the Quebec government to set up a urea plant there.

IFFCO said the Canadian province had taken a decision in this regard on 26 March and notified it in today's edition of the official gazette of Quebec.

The proposed facility will have a capacity to produce 1.6 million tonnes of urea and 7,60,000 tonnes of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), IFFCO said in a release.

The project is estimated to cost $1.6 billion, based on the latest feasibility study.

IFFCO said, La Coop Federee, an agri-food organisation in Quebec and one of the shareholders of the Quebec project, has agreed to purchase some 5,00,000 tonnes of urea a year for distribution across Canada and several US states.

"I am extremely happy and satisfied over the development...The plant is scheduled for commissioning by 2017," IFFCO chairman and managing director U S Awasthi said.

IFFCO will now focus on the development and construction of the facility, he said.

"We will try our best to protect the environment by controlling air, water and soil quality of the area as we have done and shown in India by successfully running the oldest ammonia-urea plant at Kalol, Gujarat," Awasthi said.

"Our focus now is on project financing which, once finalised, will pave the way for construction of the industrial complex to commence," IFFCO Canada CEO Manish Gupta said.

The project site is at Becancour Port and Industrial Park, which provides access via land, rail and water to markets across North America, IFFCO said, adding that the deep-water port will also facilitate exports, especially to markets in Europe.