Guwahati, July 23: Members of the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU)  staged a mass protest in Dibrugarh on Saturday following Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba’s revelation that a committee of Group of Officers (CGO) had recommended the closure of the Brahmaputra Valley Fertilizer Corporation Limited (BVFCL).

The AASU members took out a rally in Dibrugarh town before proceeding to burn the effigy of the union minister.

On July 21, Union MoS for Chemicals and Fertilizers Bhagawnath Khuba in a written reply to Assam Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi’s questions in the Lok Sabha regarding the revival of BVFCL Namrup mentioned that a Committee of Group of Officers (CGO) in its meeting held on August 12, 2022 chaired by CEO, NITI Aayog had recommended the closure of BVFCL.

He further mentioned that as per the New Public Sector Enterprises (PSE) Policy for Atmanirbhar Bharat, ‘Fertilizer’ sector is a non-strategic sector and in non-strategic sectors, Public Sector Enterprises shall be considered for privatization, where feasible, otherwise such enterprises shall be considered for closure.

The BVFCL located in Namrup in Dibrugarh district has been struggling to stay afloat due to huge decline in production.

The Namrup-1 unit of the BVFCL which was set up in 1969 was shut down in while the remaining two units, Namrup-2 set up in 1976 and Namrup-3 set up in 1987 have been struggling due to outdated technologies and machineries. There has been huge decline in the production of urea in the two units in recent years because of which the fertiliser plant is unable to cater to the huge demand of urea in the country.

In 2018, the Centre had approved in-principle the proposal for setting up of a fourth unit at an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore. However no progress was seen since then.

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