Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar has said the public sector FACT will not only be revived but also be expanded.
Addressing a meet-the-press organised by the Press Club here on Friday, Mr. Kumar said FACT was already on the revival path, thanks to the Rs.1,000-crore line of credit offered by the Centre.
“I have been told that instead of producing four lakh tonnes of factamfos, it will be touching a record production of 10 lakh metric tones by the end of this year. FACT will also add more fertilizers to the production list,” he said.
When asked as to why the Centre had offered just a line of credit, and that too by taking away the land of FACT, Mr. Kumar said there were several components to a package. “Waiver of interest and penal interest are also part of the package. So is the line of credit and leveraging of land. We are not taking away any land. It is only a financial technicality, and only a certain amount of land is being given as guarantee,” he added.
The Minister said granting money alone would not make a package and added that leveraging the assets of a public sector undertaking by keeping it in the public domain and not surrendering it to private parties are also part of a package.
