Fertilizer firms seek Iranian partners for urea joint venture.

Two state-owned fertilizer companies have together commissioned SBI Capital Markets Ltd. (SBICap) to find Iranian partners for a urea plant they want to build in the petrochemicals hub at Chabahar in south-western Iran, seeking to take advantage of low gas prices in that country to produce the farm nutrient.

The project by Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd. (RCF) and Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Ltd. will cost an estimated Rs.7,000 crore, according to two fertilizer ministry officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iran has offered gas for the project at an affordable $3 (Rs.180) per million British thermal unit (mBtu), making it cheaper to produce urea in Iran and ship it to India, which imports 8 million tonnes (mt) of the fertilizer to meet domestic demand.

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