In a move to boost employment in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to inaugurate the much-awaited fertiliser manufacturing project at Gorakhpur on December 7. The project refers to a fertiliser factory that is built on 600 acres of land at the cost of Rs 8603 crore.
The factory, established and to be operated by Hindustan Fertilizers and Rasayan Limited (HURL), is likely to open doors for 20,000 people to direct and indirect employment while bringing happiness to scores of farmers in the district, official state government sources said. HURL is a joint venture in which Coal India Limited, NTPC, Indian Oil Corporation are the lead promoters while Fertiliser Corporation of India Limited and Hindustan Fertiliser Corporation Limited are partners.
It will also ensure the availability of adequate fertilisers to Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring border states while cutting down the use of imported products. The production capacity of the factory is 3850 metric tonnes per day and 12.7 lakh metric tonnes of fertilisers per annum.
It is to be mentioned that as a Member of Parliament (MP) from Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had left no parliament session from 1998 till March 2017 where he did not raise the issue of reopening of the factory. The factory was shut down due to an accident in 1990.
In view of recurring demands from the Uttar Pradesh CM and the potential of economic benefits from the production of in-house fertilisers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the fertiliser factory on July 22, 2016. Subsequently, CM Yogi Adityanath accelerated the construction of the factory despite the COVID pandemic.
Special rubber, which is not affected by bullets, is also being manufactured through a special technology from South Korea on factory premises at the cost of Rs 30 crore. The factory will facilitate a large-scale supply of neem-coated urea to eastern Uttar Pradesh as well as neighbouring states. Also, farmers in Nepal will also benefit from the facility.
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The Preling Tower erected at Gorakhpur Fertilizer Factory is the tallest in the world, being twice the height of Qutub Minar. The quality of the manure coming from the Preling Tower is expected to be the best, increasing the fertility of the soil.
A major highlight of the project is that the youth of Purvanchal constitute 30 percent of the employees of the factory and girls outnumber boys among employees.