Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation (SPIC) Tuticorin plant has successfully transitioned to 100 percent natural gas from naphtha as a raw material source for the production of urea. This move would help deploy carbon-neutral initiatives in its raw material usage and manufacturing processes, and would bring down the final cost of production of fertilisers.

Feedstock will now be continuously available, with no storage requirements and minimum logistics and freight costs. Until March 2024, SPIC utilised a combination of fuels, with 60 percent of its domestic natural gas supplied through the IOC Ramnad Tuticorin Pipeline from ONGC, Ramnad. The Government of India had advised all fertiliser manufacturers to switch to natural gas.

The completion of IOCL’s southern region team’s Ennore cross-country pipeline, and ONGC supply of domestic gas through IOCL's cross-country pipeline enabled SPIC to switch over to a cleaner fuel source. In preparation for this transition, SPIC had adapted its primary reformer catalyst to handle 100 percent natural gas.

Urea contains the elements such as nitrogen, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Carbon and hydrogen can be extracted from fuel oil, naphtha, and natural gas, while nitrogen and oxygen are taken from the atmosphere.