The
Cabinet on Wednesday approved
sale
of nearly 482 acre
of
surplus
land held by fertiliser firm FACT
for about
Rs
970 crore
to the
Kerala government, and the amount will be used
to cut debt and enhance production capacity.
The
Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, approved
sale
of 481.79 acres
of
land held by Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore Ltd (FACT)
to the
Kerala government.
As per the deal, 150 acres
of
land will be sold at
Rs 1 crore per acre and in lieu
of this the state government has agreed
to give free-hold right over 143.22 acres
of
land
to FACT. The remaining 331.79 acres will be divested at
Rs 2.4758 crore per acre, an official statement said.
"FACT is under debt. But it has potential
to increase production capacity and create jobs," Information and Broadcasting Minister
Prakash Javadekar said.
The company is being revived
to meet fertiliser requirement in southern region
of the country, he added.
FACT will utilise fund
to address working capital deficiency, improvement
of balance sheet and enabling the company
to enhance physical and financial performance by implementing capacity expansion projects
for sustainable growth
of the company.
"This approval will help FACT
to reduce the bank borrowings and
to implement projects
for enhancing fertilizer production capacity and upgrading logistics/raw material handling facilities," the statement said.