Nephtha, rock phosphate, sculpture, smelter gases and gypsum etc. are important raw materials to produce chemical fertilizers. Naphtha is the most important raw material to manufacture nitrogenous fertilizers. Earlier most of the naphtha was imported from abroad but today most of the requirement is made up indigenously. It is the supply of naphtha which has affected the location of fertilizer units near the ports and oil refineries.

Coke and coke-oven gas are other important feedstock’s used by the fertilizer industry. There are coal-based fertilizer units at Talcher, Ramagundem and Korba. Similarly plants at Sindri, Rourkela, Bhilai, Durgapur and Jamshedpur are based on coke- oven gas. The plant at Neyveli is based on lignite. The Thal-Vaishet and Hazira plants use natural gas from the Bombay High and Bassein oil fields.

Rock phosphate is used as raw material for making phosphates fertilizers. About 90 per cent of the country’s requirement is met through import. Indigenous supply comes from Singhbhum (Jharkhand) and Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh), and Jhamar Kotra (Rajasthan) areas.

Sulphur is another raw material used in ferti­lizer industry. Bulk fits supply comes from Rajasthan, Bihar (Amjhore area) and Tamil Nadu. It is utilised by the Sindri factory to produce sulphuric acid. Gypsum is utilised for the production of ammonium sulphate. It is mainly obtained from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Sindri and other units of FCI obtain their supply from the captive mines in Bikaner district.

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Distribution

The location of fertilizer plants is closely related to oil refineries, steel plants and coal produc­ing areas. Plants near sea coast are mainly based on imported raw material. Due to improve­ment in transport system (gas pipeline) some plants have also been located nearer to consumer centers. The distribution shows its maximum concentration in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, both accounting for 68 per cent of phosphate and 28 per cent of nitrogen fertilisers of the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh (17%), Maharashtra (11%), Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Table 22.111 exhibits state wise percentage share in the production of nitrogenous and phosphate fertilizers in India.

1. Gujarat

Gujarat is the largest producer of chemical fertilizers accounting for 25.2 per cent of the total production of nitrogenous and 25.6 per cent of phosphates fertilizers in India. The GSFC unit at Vadodara and the IFFCO unit at Kalol produce both nitrogenous and phosphates fertilizers; all other units at Bharuch, Udhna, Kandla, Bhavnagar, and Vadodara (Alembic Chemicals) produce only phosphates. Two new plants are coming up at Hazira and Surat.

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2. Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is the second largest producer (16%) of phosphates fertilizers in the country. It is also the fourth largest producer (8.6 per cent) of nitrogenous fertilizers in India. About 65 per cent of the total production of the state is in the form of nitrogenous fertilizers. Fertilizer plants are located at Neyveli, Ranipet, Ennore, Tuticorin, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Avadi and Manali. Neyveli plant only produces nitrogen while last four only contribute phosphates. Tuticorin has the largest fertilizer plant of the state with installed capacity of 258 thousand tons of nitrogen and 73,000 tons of phosphates.

3. Uttar Pradesh

The state contributes about 17.1 per cent of nitrogenous and 3.4 per cent of the phosphates ferti­lizers of the country. Bulk of the production comes from Kanpur (capacity 319,000 tons), Phulpur (228,000 tones), Gorakhpur (431,000 tons), Varanasi (10,000 tons), and Magarwara plants. Four new units are being installed at Babrala, Aonla, Shahjahanpur and Jagdishpur (Sultanpur).

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4. Maharashtra

Maharashtra produces 11.5 per cent of the nitrogenous and 7 percent of the phosphate fertiliz­ers of the country. The state has 6 units, 3 of which are located at Mumbai and others at Trombay, Ambarnath and Loni-Kalbhor. Trombay is the larg­est nitrogen producing plant of the country (capacity 7.7 lakh tons).

5. Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh contributes 10.9 per cent of the phosphate and 3.5 per cent of nitrogenous ferti­lizers of the country. Main producing units are located at Vishakhapatnam, Ramagundem (228,000 tons) Kakinada, Maula Ali (Hyderabad), Tadepalli, Tanuku and Nidadavole. The Ramagundem unit is coal based.

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6. Orissa

The state supplies 11.6 per cent of phosphate and 3 per cent of nitrogenous fertilizers of the coun­try. Its main producing centers include Rourkela (1.2 lakh tonnes), Talcher (capacity 2.28 lakh tons) and Paradwip (capacity 15 lakh tons).

7. Punjab

Punjab produces about 6.2 per cent of nitrog­enous fertilizers of the country. It has two fertilizer plants located at Nangal (2 units) and Bathinda.

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8. Kerala

The state contributes 5.9 per cent of phosphate and 3.5 per cent of nitrogenous fertilizers of the country. It houses 3 large units of FACT located at Always (capacity: nitrogen 32,000 tons and phosphate 32,000 tons), and Kochi (capacity: nitrogen 192,000 tons and phosphates 32,000 tons).

9. Rajasthan

The state supplies 2.3 per cent of nitrogenous and 1.6 per cent of phosphate fertilizers of the country. Fertilizer plants are located at Kota, (capac­ity 152,000 tons of nitrogen), Khetri (190,000 tons of phosphates), Dabari, Saladipur and Chittaurgarh.

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10. Bihar

Bihar produces 2 per cent of nitrogenous and 1.1 per cent of phosphate fertilizers of India. Its four fertilizer uits are located at Sindri (capacity: 219,000 tons nitrogen and 150,000 tons of phosphates), Barauni (capacity: 152,000 tons of nitrogen), Jamshedpur and Dhanbad (only phosphates).