The government is building a war chest exceeding ₹600 crore to immediately augment gas supplies to fertiliser plants from spot markets, sources indicated. This comes when many gas-based urea units have advanced the dates of closure for annual maintenance in view of the shortage in liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Sources said the need for more spot purchases of LNG for fertiliser plants arose because the government anticipates availability could drop below the promised 70 per cent of the average of the last six months’ consumption to 60 or even 50 per cent if the Iran crisis lingered.
