Second Thoughts after Six Years

Second Thoughts after Six Years Hansavivek TATA CHEMICALS' letter of intent for the fertiliser project has been extended hy government to the end of December 1973, but the company complains that it is unable to make any further progress towards its conversion into an industrial licence in the absence of government decisions which would make indigenous manufacture of heavystock- based nitrogenous fertilisers economically viable. J R D Tata, chairman, points out that within the present capital costs and feedstock and fertiliser prices, it Iras become impossible to formulate a viable project for manufacture of nitrogenous fertilisers which would qualify for support from available sources of investment or loan finance. The capital costs of industrial plants have risen enormously in the past two years. Moreover, because of the shortage of naphtha, all new fertiliser plants must use heavier leedstocks. J R D Tata feels tlrat the tax structure applicable to such feedstocks should not penalise new plants as against earlier naphtha-based plants. He contends that government has been aware of this problem for some time but has been unable to make up its mind.