Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL) has received proprietary equipment for its upcoming urea plant at Talcher, Odisha. The delivery, which arrived at the TFL site on 11 September 2025, included a stripper, a pool condenser and a urea reactor manufactured by Stamicarbon.
The company stated that the arrival of the equipment marks a step towards the commissioning of the urea production facility.
TFL is a joint venture company formed in 2015 to revive the Fertilizer Corporation of India’s (FCIL) defunct Talcher urea plant in Odisha. It is a collaboration between GAIL (India) Ltd, Coal India Ltd (CIL), Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers Ltd (RCF), and FCIL. Each of GAIL, CIL, and RCF holds about a 33.33 percent stake, while FCIL holds a small equity stake (around 4.45 percent).
The TFL project involves setting up India’s first coal gasification-based ammonia urea plant with an estimated cost of over INR 132.7 billion. The plant is designed to produce about 1.27 million tonnes of urea annually using coal gasification technology sourced from Shell (now Air Products Limited). The ammonia plant capacity is 2200 MTPD and the urea plant capacity is 3850 MTPD. Coal will be sourced from Mahanadi Coalfields.
The plant is located in the Angul district of Odisha, over an area of about 902 acres. The original FCIL Talcher unit was set up in 1971 and closed by 2002 due to operational problems. The revival through TFL started in 2015 but the project has faced delays, including impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. As of late 2024, about 63.75 percent of the project work was completed, with major components like pipe racks and some plant buildings nearing completion.
Employment opportunities from the project include around 510 direct jobs and 4500 indirect jobs during the construction phase, with expected economic benefits to the region and assured urea supply to farmers in Odisha.
The project saw fresh investment commitments recently, with Coal India investing over INR 10.67 billion via rights issue in 2025 to support completion. The EPC contractor for the project is Wuhan Engineering Company Ltd (WECL) from China.
Overall, Talcher Fertilizers Limited is a strategic initiative to use indigenous coal resources for urea production aiming to meet domestic fertilizer demand through advanced coal gasification technology, though it is still under execution with completion targeted around 2024-25.
