The present production of The Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL) in Namrup, Assam named as the largest chemical fertilizer industry under the public sector is now zero. The industry in Assam today turned to death due to poor governance of the industry in parallel with the attitude of the central government and the mispolicy directed by some corrupt officials. The first unit of the three units of the industry in Namrup, Assam, which was set up in the sixties, was revived which was now scrapped. The second unit has been closed for nearly two and a half years since 2019. On the other hand, the third unit which is closed for the month is also undergoing repairs and has been shut down due to a complex anomaly.
It may be noted that even after having five DGMs, 8/9 chief managers in the plant in the Assam industry, there are often allegations of the industry being in failure due to lack of proper repairs. It may be noted recently that the third unit was shut down in November 2020, which was earlier shut down in January- February this year, and again it remained closed from June 11 due to repairing works, but there is no guarantee of when it will run again or how long it will last. As a result, the production is zero in the Namrup fertilizer factory in Assam. So, against the current production of 72000 Metric Tons in the current financial year, only 26600 Metric Tonnes of urea have been produced. The industry in Assam is sure to make more losses in the current financial year if such a situation persists.
It may be noted that as an alternative to such adverse conditions, late Union Minister for Fertilizers and Chemicals Ram Vilas Paswan on June 26, 2006, laid the foundation stone for setting up the fourth unit of the fertilizer plant in Assam with a target of producing eight lakh metric tonnes of fertilizers at a cost of Rs 2600 crore. But despite the full infrastructure, there are also suspicions that some of the corrupt senior officials in the management of the industry have contributed to the government's failure to set up a fourth unit in fifteen years with various excuses.
In 2019-20, suspicions of a deep conspiracy were raised at the end of the last round of retreat despite leading companies in the country like National Chemical and Fertilizers (RCF) and National Fertilizer Limited (NFL) coming forward to set up the fourth unit and checking the structure and land. It is worth mentioning that since 2005 the central government has given around Rs 1100 crore for the maintenance of the Namrup fertilizer. After the separation from Hindustan Fertilizer to Brahmaputra Valley Fertilization 2002, the Central Government had provided Rs. 653 crore (653) for the revival of all three units of fertilizer. Under this scheme, Rs 45 crore was spent for the first unit which was closed in 1985, Rs 490 crore for the second unit, and Rs 100 crore for the third unit for maintenance. Unfortunately, the first unit that was being re-decorated at a cost of Rs 45 crore did not last for a day after the maintenance of the unit.
Therefore, the first unit was finally sold as an iron locker in 2017-18 in a scrap. After repairing the second unit which has been at anomaly since its inception, production has come down from 333,000 metric tons a year to 240,000 metric tons. The second unit is still closed for two and a half years.
Surprisingly, even after the central government gave nearly 1000 crore rupees for repairing the second and third units the industry is dying today with zero production which has clearly proved that it is not in the position to produce fertilizer. It is certain that a huge amount of money in the name of repairing works has been claimed by some highly placed officials and contractors.
It may be noted that a proper audit of the human resources department would have made clear the discrepancies in employment-related information, succession plan, character management, promotion on the basis of skill of office staff, etc. Chief Minister of Assam, Dr. Himanta Biswa Sharma, during his visit to the Namrup Fertilizer Factory on June 19, was seen to be very strict with the authorities regarding the black market syndicate when the authorities met in the discussion room of the industry.
