This follows the re-opening of JK Jute Mill and JK Cotton Mill that has brought some hope in these days of economic slowdown.

On Wednesday, the Union Cabinet gave permission to the fertiliser unit to operate on Naptha fuel. Known prominently for its main fertiliser brand “Chand Chhap” urea, the DIL was closed on October 16, 2005 after the Union Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers asked the units to switch to Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) instead of Naptha as feedstock. Following this, the management of DIL — owned by Duncan Goenka Group headed by G P Goenka — decided to close the unit at Kanpur due to lack of availability of LNG.

Kanpur MP and Union Minister of State for Home Shriprakash Jaiswal said: “I met Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, and requested him to permit the DIL to start fertiliser production using Naptha.”

Jaiswal claimed that the re-start of the DIL will have an important role in reviving the lost glory of the city.

The general manager of the DIL, R K Awasthi, told The Indian Express that they have not yet received an official confirmation in this regard. He said it will take two months for the management to put things in order before the production is started at the unit.

“Around 1,200 employees were directly or indirectly working for us and at the time the unit was closed we produced 40,000 tonnes of fertiliser in 45 days,” said Awasthi. In addition to urea, the DIL also produced potassic and phosphatic fertilisers.

“If things work out, we too are looking forward to re-start other fertiliser unit at the earliest,” added Awasthi.