Steps to Increase Domestic Production of Ammonium Nitrate

Presently, Coal India Limited (CIL) has Regular Running Contracts with 12 domestic private explosive manufacturers for Bulk explosives; with 06 domestic private explosive manufacturers for Large Dia explosives and with 04 domestic private explosive manufacturers for Permitted explosives. CIL also has a parallel Long Term Running Contract with M/s Indian Oil Corporation Limited for supply of Bulk explosives. Eight private explosive firms are supplying SME Explosives to SCCL. Further, SCCL has two captive explosive manufacturing plants of total capacity of 50,000 tonnes.

There are 4 manufacturers of High Density Ammonium Nitrate (HDAN) in the country and the domestic production of HDAN is not sufficient to meet the requirement for manufacturer of various kinds of explosives used for coal mining, non-coal mining and infrastructure projects. Therefore, explosive manufacturers use mix of domestic and imported AN for manufacturer of explosives. As per the information available in public domain, Russia has banned the export of Ammonium Nitrate (AN). This has affected supply of explosives to the some extent. In order to ensure uninterrupted supply of explosives for smooth production of Coal, Government has taken steps to increase domestic production of Ammonium Nitrate in the country.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pralhad Joshi in a written reply in  Lok Sabha