Govt to provide Rs1,000-cr loan for revival of FACT

The government is providing a loan of Rs1,000 crore to Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore Limited (FACT), a central public sector undertaking, for its revival. A memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the loan was signed at a function in New Delhi on Thursday.

Dharam Pal, joint secretary in the department of fertilisers and Jaiveer Srivastava CMD of FACT, signed the agreement at a function in New Delhi on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion, minister of chemicals and fertilizers Ananth Kumar said the Modi government is committed to the food security of the nation, and fertilizers security is one of its main components. He said that FACT, due to various reasons, had fallen sick and its revival has been one of the priority item on the government's agenda.

FACT is one of the oldest fertilizer company of the country and provides employment to over 2,700 persons directly or indirectly while over 30,000 families are associated with the company, he added.

The minister said the reduction in gas prices, and benign policy of the government will help the company in its growth. He said that over a period of time, the company may add an ammonia plant to produce urea.

Minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said that it is the beginning of a new dawn for FACT. He said that the initiative will not only help in fulfilling the objective of 'Make in India' but also meet the mantra of 'Sabka saath, Sabka vikas'.

As per this agreement, FACT will have to repay the Rs1,000 crore loan with interest within a period of five years, with a moratorium of one year.

The loan will ease the company's liquidity crisis and help it to clear long pending dues and facilitate much needed working capital, as well as for augmenting production. This will help FACT maintain production at optimum level on a sustainable basis in the coming years.

The company is initiating steps to enhance the production capacity of `Factamfos' by setting up a new stream of production of 1,000 tonnes per day at FACT's Cochin Division at Ambalamedu in Kochi.