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India: Coromandel floats new 50:50 JV with SQM to produce Potassium Nitrate
In a first of its kind in India, Coromandel Fertilisers Limited, the over Rs 9,300-crore fertiliser major and part of the Murugappa group, has entered into a 50:50 joint venture agreement with SQM of Chile to manufacture water soluble fertilisers at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh. Water soluble fertiliser is nothing but potassium nitrate. The plant is set up at Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh to manufacture 15,000 tonne a year initially. “Being a premium product and a non-subsidised fertiliser, we have decided to go slow initially”, commented one of the senior executives of the JV. Based on the response there are plans to triple capacity over the next three years.” “We have been importing this product over the years from SQM and selling in India in small way and now we have decided to set up a JV for the same in India to offer the farmers at competitive prices,” he said.
Currently, India imports nearly 50,000 tons of KNO3 from countries such as Chile, China and Israel and fertilizer majors such as RCF, Zuari, CFL among others are involved in importing the same.
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