September 18, 2005: Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) has agreed to purchase Oswal Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd's DAP, NPK and phosphoric acid plant at Paradeep (Orissa), in a deal valued at Rs 2,180 crore.  www.oswalfert.com

www.iffco.in

DAP/NPK : 2 Million Tons/Year
Sulphuric Acid : 7000 TPD
Phosphoric Acid : 2650 TPD

January 2009 - The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) will increase production of diammonium phosphate (DAP) by up to 3 million t/a at their recently revamped plant in Paradeep, to address concerns over shortages of the fertilizer in the country, according to The Hindi Business Line.  After acquiring the Paradeep plant from Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd in 2005, IFFCO spent INR10 billion ($US200 million) on revamping the facility, and by 2007/2008 the plant was producing approximately 860,000 t/a of DAP/NPK.   Further increases in production will occur over the next few years. ⁽¹⁾

September 28, 2006 - The State Pollution Control Board has moved a local court seeking the withdrawal of pollution-related cases instituted against the defunct Paradip-based Oswal Fertilizer Plant.
The statutory board, subsidiary of Forest and Environment Department, had no further interest in going ahead with legal proceedings against the accused, Oswal management, in view of the takeover of the plant by a new management, according to officials.
Earlier, the SPCB has ordered the closure of Paradip-based Fertilizer Plant following a direction into that effect by the Central Pollution Control Board. Later, the DAP fertilizer-manufacturing plant management sold off the unit to Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) on 1 October, 2005.
The Oswal plant while in operation had often faced volley of charges on the discharge of effluent to water bodies and release of toxic gaseous substances into air. There was widespread public resentment in Jagatsinghpur and neighbouring Kendrapara district as the pollutant plant posed hazards to vegetation, aquatic lives and human health.
The SPCB while taking cognizance of the pollution-related issues had filed three separate cases in Sub Divisional Judicial Magistrate court on 17 March, 2001, 11 November, 2002 and 12 November, 2003. The charge leveled by the pollution regulatory board pertained to the contravention of Section 25 of the Water (Prevention & Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, violation of consent conditions and operation of the plant with mandatory consent, defiance of direction of closure issued by the board and contravention of Section 23 of Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
"The ownership of the accused plant has been transferred to the IFFCO. As Oswal against whom pollution charges were instituted is no more the occupier, no cause of action exists to prosecute the accused persons. Under the changing circumstances, the prosecution has become a mere academic exercise. Due to the non-existence of the pollutant plant, the board whose work is curative and reformative in nature has no further interest to proceed with the cases," an application moved by SPCB to the SDJM Jagatsinghpur noted.
The Oswal plant had been shut down earlier on at least three times by the Central Pollution Control Board as it was accused of not adhering to industrial safety norms. The sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid and di-ammonium plants were stopped from functioning. Earlier on 15 January, the Central board had allowed the operation of DAP with imported phosphoric acid and ammonia.
The safety audit by a reputed farm dealing in environment science had detected serious lapses in pollution control and safety measures of the plant adopted.

June 18, 2002 - High-Power Panel for Closure of Oswal Fertilizer Plant - A high-power committee has recommended closure of the Abhay Oswal group's DAP fertiliser plant near Paradip port in Orissa. This is in view of the pollution caused by the plant. The Government of India set up the committee in Feb 2002 following allegations that the plant had not taken adequate environment safety measures, leading to pollution of the Mahanadi river into which the plant's effluents are discharged. The committee, in its report, has said that the pollution caused by the plant might damage crops and cause incurable diseases in human beings and domestic animals. It has suggested that the plant should not be allowed to operate till the company took comprehensive environmental safety measures. The committee consists of experts from the Ministry of Forest and Environment of the Government of India and the Pollution Control Board of the Government and Orissa.

June 13, 2002 - Oswal's Polluting DAP Plant facing Closure - Joint Inspection Team Orders Closure of DAP Plant, Asks Company to Set up Fluorine Recovery Unit. The di-ammonia plant (DAP) of Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd at Paradip will be closed for causing environmental pollution. A joint inspection team (JIT) of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, Central Pollution Control Board and the Orissa State Pollution Control Board have ordered the closure. The JIT has opined that unless the company sets up a fluorine recovery unit it cannot manufacture phosphoric acid. The extent of the damage caused due to fluoride contamination will be ascertained and the cost of this will be borne by the company. The company will be issued closure orders if it does not make arrangements to store and handle gypsum, have the required effluent treatment plants and use methods to segregate waste water from storm water.

June 10, 2000 - Closure looms large over Oswal Chemicals and Fertilisers Limited, or OCFL, at Paradip in the wake of increasing pressure following a series of accidents inside the plant. The Orissa government is likely to move against OCFL soon over the issue of lack of safety which has allegedly caused six deaths and left over two dozen labourers injured in the last month and a half. A highly placed source in the state labour and employment department, indicated that the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is under tremendous pressure to take punitive action against OCFL. "The coalition government in the state has no option but to initiate hard action against OCFL," sources said, and pointed that a high level meeting would be convened on June 12 in this connection to take a final decision. The Orissa government had directed OCFL to halt operations at the sulphur conveyor belt in its sulphuric acid plant which had caught fire on May 28 last. Seven workers were injured in the accident. One labourer, Alekha Sahoo, injured in the mishap later succumbed to his injuries. Frequent mishaps at the OCFL plant have been attributed to the lack of safety measures and defects in the new set-up commissioned last April, said sources. Inquiry into the three accidents that took place at the OCFL plant on April 9,May 6, and May 9 last has revealed that the accidents were caused due to violation of prescribed governmental rules and regulations, Minister for Labour and Employment Bimbadhar Kumar admitted recently. Trilochal Kanungo, the local Bharatiya Janata Dal member of Parliament, has urged the chief minister to order the closure of the plant till the required safety measures are adopted. Kanungo also called for the arrest of Abhay Oswal, the chief executive officer of OFCL, over the issue. Several organisations, including workers unions and environmentalists, have also urged the state government to take action against the plant. Sudhakar Mantry, union leader, alleged that OCFL has "become a death trap for the poor labourers due to weak safety measures inside the plant." Noted environmentalist and president of the Orissa Krushak Mahasangha Banka, Behary Das, also demanded closure of the OCFL plant and urged a probe into the lack of safety measures at the plant.

June 7, 2000 - One worker dies in a fire mishap at Oswal Chemicals & Fertilisers in Paradip, Orissa. The government had earlier registered three cases against the company for not adhering to safety norms.