PM Modi launches Rs 10,601-crore fertiliser plant in Assam's Dibrugarh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 21 laid the foundation stone of a Rs 10,601-crore brownfield ammonia-urea plant in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, marking a major step towards strengthening domestic fertiliser production and reducing dependence on imports.

The project, to be executed by the Assam Valley Fertiliser and Chemical Company Ltd (AVFCCL), will have an annual urea production capacity of 12.7 lakh metric tonnes and is targeted for commissioning in 2030.

The plant will come up at Namrup in Dibrugarh, within the existing premises of the Brahmaputra Valley Fertiliser Corporation Ltd, following approval by the Union Cabinet in March this year.

AVFCCL was incorporated in July and is structured as a joint venture involving the Assam government, Oil India, National Fertilisers Limited, Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Ltd and BVFCL. Officials said the new unit is expected to play a key role in meeting fertiliser demand in the northeast and eastern India.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister paid tribute to the martyrs of the Assam Agitation at the newly inaugurated Swahid Smarak Kshetra. The visit underscored the continued political and social relevance of the six-year-long anti-foreigners’ movement that concluded in 1985.

The memorial commemorates 860 people who lost their lives during the agitation. A perpetual lamp burns at the site in their memory, symbolising sacrifice and resilience.

Accompanied by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and senior officials, Modi toured the martyrs’ gallery and garlanded the statue of Khargeswar Talukdar, recognised as the first martyr of the movement, who died on December 10, 1979.

Officials said the Rs 170-crore memorial has been developed as a space for both remembrance and public engagement, featuring water bodies, an auditorium, a prayer hall, a cycle track and a sound-and-light show tracing key phases of the Assam Agitation and the state’s history.