Oman India Fertiliser Company (OMIFCO), which has been selling almost its entire output of 1.65mn tonnes (MT) in India under an agreement with the government of India, will start to supply as much as 30,000MT of urea in the local market for farmers across the sultanate from this year.
To facilitate distribution in the local market, the company launched a new bagging unit at its plant in Sur on Monday under the auspices of H E Dr Fouad bin Ja'afar al Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, B D Sinha, chairman of OMIFCO, said that the new urea bagging unit will cater to demand across Oman.
He said, "The urea will be provided to local farmers at a competitive price. The use of urea by Omani farmers will boost the production of agriculture crops locally, giving them a competitive edge in the market. It will also be instrumental in supporting the food security of the sultanate."
Speaking to Muscat Daily on the sidelines of the event, Sinha added that the Oman government's decision to increase gas prices will 'marginally' increase the cost of urea imports from the sultanate to India.
He said, "Due to escalation in gas prices, the cost of imports will go up marginally, but still urea imports from Oman will be substantially cheaper for India than from any other country."
He added, "India's total urea imports stood at 6mn tonnes, out of which 25 per cent is imported from Oman annually. The government of India makes substantial savings on urea imports from Oman at a fixed price under the agreement."
To make the distribution system more streamlined and efficient, OMIFCO has contracted Takamul Investment Company to distribute urea in the domestic market. The company will supply 30,000MT, in bags weighing 50kg each, annually from this year.
© Muscat Daily 2012
