Punjab CM asks Centre to release Rs.1300 crore for Nangal NFL

NEW DELHI : Seeking personal intervention of the Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to put Rs. 5500 crore project of the expansion of National Fertilizer Ltd. (NFL) Plant at Naya Nangal in Rupnagar district on fast track, the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged Jaitley to immediately release Rs 1300 crore to the Ministry of Fertilizers & Chemicals, GoI as equity demanded by it.
Badal called on the Union Finance Minister in his office here at Shastri Bhawan this morning and apprised the latter that the current capacity of NFL unit which was now five lac tons was to be enhanced to 15 lac tons, as all the requisite infrastructure was in place for the said expansion. Moreover, the Ministry of Fertilizers has already granted approval to undertake the expansion of this unit as it would not only generate tremendous employment potential in the region but also meet the ever mounting demand of urea in the state. He also impressed upon Jaitley to get the one time grant of Rs. 1300 crore released expeditiously so that the expansion of this project could be undertaken in fast mode.Likewise, the Chief Minister also impressed upon Jaitley to release special funds to the tune of Rs. 1375 crore for rejuvenation of the Uppar Bari Doab Canal (UBDC) passing through the districts of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur as it was the oldest canal system since 1989 and was in operation for the past 126 years. Consequently, the UBDC was working only at 13% efficiency as out of 13.43 lac acres of command area, actual irrigated area was 8.47 acres and thus it was the need of the hour to immediately modernize it so as to achieve its full water carrying capacity in the border region.