New Delhi, March 19 The government has procured additional natural gas through a spot bid to increase urea production at fertilizer plants, which have been operating far below capacity due to a fuel shortage amid the West Asia crisis, a government official said on Thursday.
Fertilizer plants in the country require about 52 million cubic meters per day (MMCMD) of natural gas to operate at full capacity, but were receiving only around 32 MMCMD, meeting barely 62 per cent of their requirement, resulting in a significant shortfall in urea output, the official told