The projects include a Rs 1,300 crore expansion of RCF's fertiliser unit at Thal in Maharashtra, new DAP (diammonium phosphate) units at Thal and Udaipur in Rajasthan, a single super phosphate (SSP) unit in Madhya Pradesh and a joint venture with UCB of Belgium to make methylamines, RCF chairman and managing director (CMD) D K Varma told reporters here last night.

The company has already implemented a Rs 500 crore modernisation of its four lakh tonnes per annum (tpa) urea manufacturing unit at Trombay near Mumbai.

RCF's manufacturing unit at Thal has a current capacity of 18 lakh tonnes per annum (tpa), Varma said, adding this would be increased to 26 lakh tpa.

The project has been approved by the cabinet and is currently awaiting the nod of the public investment board (PIB), he said.Another major project in the pipeline is the Rs 400 crore SSP manufacturing unit proposed by RCF in Madhya Pradesh. The unit would have a capacity of five lakh tpa. The company is yet to finalise the location for the project.

RCF is also planning to set up two new DAP manufacturing plants at Udaipur in Rajasthan and Thal. The Udaipur unit will be joint venture with Hindustan Zinc Ltd. (HZL) and Rajasthan Minerals. The total investment for the project would be in the range of Rs 300 crore. The project would have a debt equity profile of 2:1.

Negotiations are in final stages with the joint venture partners for the project, Varma said adding Rajasthan Minerals had committed to provide 2.5 lakh tonnes of rock phosphate for the project. With UCB of Belgium, RCF is planning a 50:50 joint venture which would be finalised by July, he said. The entire equipment and supplies for the project would come from the Belgian company.

On the debated Oman fertiliser project, Varma said RCF has not withdrawn from theproject. He said the project is under `reconsideration and review' by a special task force constituted by the government. For the Thal unit expansion, RCF has signed a memorandum of understanding with Enron Power Corporation and Tata-Total for procuring 1.8 million cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for feedstock needs.

RCF was planning to implement a restructuring of its marketing setup, he said adding the company's fertiliser trading activities had seen a 400 per cent increase during fiscal 1998-99.