(From: George-Ramsey Benamba, GNA Special Correspondent in New Delhi, India)

New Delhi, March 18, GNA - Gas Authority India Limited (GAIL), a gas producing firm and its subsidiary Companies in India on Wednesday expressed their interest in establishing a ferilizer factory in Ghana to serve farmers within and outside Ghana. The factory would be sited at Shama in the Western Region as soon as the final negotiations for its establishment are completed within this year.

Vice President John Dramani Mahama announced these after holding bilateral talks with a number of Indian based companies to explore the possibility of using gas products when Ghana begins to drill oil and gas by the end of this year. He said apart from producing the fertilizer to serve domestic farmers, the company when established would also explore markets in neighbouring, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Togo, Benin and Nigeria. "The Company will also come out with Liquified Petroleum Gas to serve public transport systems that would utilize gas as fuel for their vehicles, as that is comparatively cheaper than other petroleum products."

The Vice President appealed to the Company which is also engaged in transport business to consider carrying out feasibility studies on the need to introduce vehicles that would rely on the use of gas to create a ready market for their products.

=C4lthough we have not reached there yet, ultimately we shall be negotiating with transport companies within and outside the country to make use of liquified gas which is not only cheaper, but also environmentally friendly to use in the country.

Mr. Rabi Gayen, Deputy General Manager, in charge of Business Development for GAIL, gave the assurance that when given the final go-ahead to establish the factory, they would satisfy both Ghanaian domestic market and the outside world in the provision of fertilizers, vehicles for public transport, training programmes for staff and provision of scholarships for the upgrading of knowledge.

He said the Company has the state of the art technology with a work force of 3,500 that was capable of replicating in Ghana its achievements in Oman, Egypt, China, and the United States of America. "We are not only into gas and fertilizer products, but we are also into petrol chemicals, Natural gas transmission, training programmes for staff and other people interested in engaging in the gas industry," he said.