Morocco’s state-owned Office Cherifien de Phosphate (OCP) is partnering with India’s Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (Kribhco) in a 50:50 joint venture to build a large scale fertilizer plant in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
“This partnership is designed to be truly a win-win project for all the stakeholders involved but foremost for India’s agriculture and particularly for Indian farmers,” said OCP’s Chairman and CEO, Mostafa Terrab.
The greenfield project will call for an initial investment of $230 million and will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tons of NPK, or nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium fertilizer. The scheme will call upon the knowledge of the Indian market and farmer demand that Kribhco brings, along with OCP’s manufacturing capabilities to advance the supply of fertilizer – one of the top 25 key sectors that have been earmarked as being core to the “Make in India” initiative launched by the Government of India in September 2014.
“OCP has always been, and remains fully committed to contribute to India’s agricultural development,” said Terrab. “We believe large scale local investments designed to respond to farmers’ specific needs is the key ingredient to successful agricultural ecosystem development.”
The administrations of both India and Morocco have been working recently to strengthen ties between the two countries for mutual trade and economic advancement. The North Africa Post reports that Morocco’s King Mohammed VI traveled to New Delhi last year to attend the India-Africa Forum where he called for expansion of Moroccan-Indian cooperation in trade and for greater cooperation between South-South partners in general. Additionally, Mohammad Hamid Ansari, India’s Vice-Prime Minister visited Morocco in May 2015 at which time he called for a strategic partnership between the two nations.
“Proposed JV is a unique example of global cooperation between two leading organizations joining hands for making available phosphate-based fertilizer products to Indian farmers by channelizing their respective strengths,” said Dr. Chandra Pal Singh, Chairman, Kribhco, adding that the project will unlock the stored value of the soil. “Farmers of the country shall benefit with continued supply of various NPK grade products based on best quality phosphate in the world.”
Morocco has been a key mover in regard to the development of fertilizer production. In 2014 Morocco and the country of Gabon signed a $2.3 billion joint venture to build a string of fertilizer factories to serve the growing African agricultural market. Production capacity for the project will reach two million tons per year by 2018, of which all will be destined for the sub-Saharan African market. Of the two plants to be built in Gabon, one will produce ammonia from natural gas and the second will then turn it into fertilizer in Port Gentil. Two plants in Morocco will produce phosphoric acid and an additional plant will produce fertilizer.
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