Mangaluru: The lone chemical fertilizer factory in Karnataka, Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers (MCF) Ltd., resumed its operations on Wednesday for the next hundred days, according to a notification issued by the Central Government.

Earlier, the Centre had directed five naphtha-based fertilizer units in the country, including MCF, to switch over to gas as the raw material for production of urea by June 30 and subsequently extended the deadline to September 30. The government had said subsidy would not be paid to these units for using naphtha as feedstock under the New Pricing Policy III beyond the deadline due to high cost of production.

However, the government (GAIL) has not made available natural gas to the MCF even though the unit spent Rs. 305 crore on modernisation and additions to the existing infrastructure for producing ammonia, the base material for urea. Hence, the government had stopped providing subsidy to MCF.

An MCC official said that the plant had continued its operation, with the hope that government would resolve the issue. “The notification to continue the operation for the next hundred days has left all 2000 employees happy”, he added.

Earlier, employees of MCF held a series of protests urging the Centre to provide subsidy citing ‘Mangala urea was farmer friendly’ and their livelihood was at stake’. The employees were also supported by the legislators who time and again promised to resolve the issue at the earliest.