As part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat initiative to promote self-sufficiency in Fertilisers, Government of India has been advising and supporting the Indian fertiliser companies to strengthen their backend supply chain. Given the nation’s high dependence on raw material like rock phosphate and phosphoric acid, India plans to secure its supplies and hedge against price rises by expanding its footprint in mineral-rich countries through investments and multi-year import deals.
Towards this, Coromandel International Ltd, India’s leading phosphatic fertiliser player, today formalized the acquisition of 45% equity share in Baobab Mining and Chemicals Corporation (BMCC), a rock phosphate mining company based in Senegal. Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya presided over the event wherein officials from BMCC handed over the acceptation letter from the Government of Senegal to Coromandel.
Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister stated that “India is strengthening its raw material supply security by investing in mineral rich geographies. Government of India has been partnering with the industry to enable such investments to achieve supply security goals for meeting the country’s fertiliser needs. We are committed to ensure availability of fertilisers for our farmers and will continue to work towards ramping up domestic production and establishing partnerships with other countries”.
Dr. Mandaviya further said, “India enjoys cordial bilateral relations with Senegal, which is one of the leading suppliers of phosphoric acid to India. I hope that the investment in the rock mines in Senegal will be mutually beneficial for both the nations and will further strengthen our friendship. The mining will be done in Senegal and production of DAP will be done in India. 10 LMT of Diammonium Phosphate (DAP) and Nitrogen-Phosphorus-Potassium (NPK) will be manufactured”.
Coromandel’s Executive Vice Chairman, Shri Arun Alagappan thanked Government of India for its continuous guidance and encouragement towards establishing backward linkages for key raw materials for fertilisers. He said that “the investment in BMCC will secure up to one-third of our rock phosphate requirement, diversify our sourcing base and drive self-sufficiency in our operations. We will continue to invest towards achieving Atma Nirbhar Bharat’s vision for building supply security in phosphatic fertilisers.”
