Fertiliser Minister launches HURL's logo & brand 'Apna Urea Sona Ugle'

New Delhi, Jan 17 () Fertiliser Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Friday unveiled the logo and brand 'Apna Urea Sona Ugle' of Hindustan Urvarak and Rasayan Ltd (HURL), which is in the process of reviving three sick urea units.

The sick urea units are located at Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Barauni (Bihar) and Sindri (Jharkhand).

HURL, a joint venture firm promoted by three PSUs -- Coal India Limited (CIL), NTPC Ltd and Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) -- is in the process of putting in place all logistic and marketing infrastructure.

After the launch, Gowda said five sick urea units are being revived at present.

HURL's three units are expected to be commissioned in February 2021, while Ramagundam (Telangana) and Talcher (Odisha) units are also likely to commence operations next year.

"I hope all units will be commissioned on schedule. This is the need of the hour," he said.

At each location, a new plant with 12.7 lakh tonnes capacity of neem coated urea is being set up which will make the country self-sufficient in urea, Gowda said, adding that the country still imports about 70-80 lakh tonnes of urea annually.

Fertiliser Secretary Chhabilendra Roul asked HURL to promote balanced use of fertilisers and not just focus on marketing its urea product.

He also advised the company not to focus on single brand urea, but diversify its product portfolio to include agrochemicals, compost, and nano-fertilizers.

Senior officials of Fertilizer Ministry, CIL, NTPC, and HURL were also present at the event.

According to HURL, the commissioning of three units in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand will open forward and backward linkages for business activity in the eastern part of the country. LUX RVK