FACT likely to seek private investment

KOCHI: FACT’s attempt to move out of the red is going to be tough with no major public sector undertaking (PSU) showing any interest in it.  In this scenario, the fertilizer company is likely to join hands with the private sector for its expansion. Initially, FACT’s plan was to go in for a joint venture with a PSU to implement some of its long-pending projects such as the new urea plant, phosphoric acid plant, and capacity expansion for factamfos production and  a container freight station (CFS). However, no company has responded to its express of interest (EoI). The CFS was aimed to tap business related to the International Container Transshipment Terminal. The urea-plant project gains significance in the wake of India’s demand for about 28 million tonnes of urea, of which only 8 million tonnes are being imported.  Heavy interest on loans availed of by the company to tide over the liquidity crunch is a major problem before the FACT management. The company paid a whopping `140 crore as interest alone during last year and suffered a loss of around `40 crore. “If the company did not have such a burden, we could have generated a profit of `100 crore,” FACT chairman and MD Sham Lal Goyal had said at a seminar recently. He had said that the firm was planning to approach the Centre for an interest-free loan of `550 crore to tide over the crisis. The management was looking for a joint venture with PSUs such as Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers or any of the oil companies. “We were mainly looking at public sector oil companies, but none has evinced interest. However, no decision has been taken on private investment,” said a company spokesperson.