The book, GSFC Nurturing Dreams Enriching lives, talks in detail about the achievements and contributions of GSFC. It also describes milestones in the company’s history
Gujrat State Fertilizers & Chemicals lTD (GSFC) has been a path-breaking company for the last 50 years. It has added value to the lives of its customers, shareholders, personnel and the community at large. The company has set records in growth and development. GSFC Nurturing Dreams Enriching lives is the book that talks in detail about the achievements and contributions of GSFC. The book describes milestones in the history of the company, its growth plans and its responsible care initiatives. Illustrated with archival and recent photographs depicting the growth of GSFC from the 1960s to the present, the chapters in the book bring out the strength of the company, including its technical competence, capabilities in technological absorption and adaptation, training facilities and strategic growth through the integration of its plants.
“Today, GSFC is poised for large scale growth in its niche segments of fertilisers and industrial chemicals. We, at GSFC, propose to build on the strengths we have achieved in our core products by building new plants that will increase our production capacity of fertilisers and chemicals. We have entered into a joint venture with Tunisia, which will ensure the supply of phosphoric acid, a short supply material in the international market to our plant. We will continue our strategy of going global in our efforts to ensure a regular supply of feedstock to our existing and new plants,” states Atanu Chakraborty, Managing Director of GSFC.
The book begins with the story of inception and development of GSFC, India’s first joint sector project. GSFC was incorporated as a joint sector company in 1962 to meet the fertiliser requirements of the newly-formed state of Gujarat. GSFC’s fertiliser plant went on-stream in 1967 and since then the company has grown to become a multi-location, multi-plant and multi-product diversified manufacturer of chemicals and fertilisers, with a global presence. The growth of GSFC has ben driven by its technical competence achieved through its own training center and the development of design and engineering units that provide the company’s plants with indigenously developed equipment, the integration of plants utilising by products from previous production facilities at each phase of its growth, the human development initiatives taken by the company, and a proactive approach towards launching new products and using new processes. Technological absorption is a hallmark of the company. The growth of the company has been in keeping with its vision to ensure optimum productivity, enrich lives of customers, shareholders, personnel and the community at large, and work with integrity and transparency.
The book is an interesting case study of the growth of the company that has integrated technologies and research to touch all walks of life and fulfill various national needs from agricultural and industrial inputs to household products. It traces the path of a company, which has shown bold determination in its growth and diversification, and aims to be a world-class, multi-product, eco-friendly global company through technological development, innovation and customer satisfaction, and thereby to contribute to the welfare of society.
The story of GSFC begins in 1960 when Gujarat was granted independent statehood. The young state of Gujarat had limited irrigation resources for increasing its agricultural yield and a low consumption of fertilisers at the end of Second Five Year Plan. This was when the state government, industrialists and some visionaries decided to start a company that would provide fertlisers and inputs to boost agricultural productivity in Gujarat. With the objective of supplying fertilisers to the states’ agricultural sector, GSFC was founded in 1962 as a joint sector company with 49 per cent equity capital of the recently-formed Gujarat state government and 51 per cent shareholdings held by financial institutions, farmers, cooperatives and public interests.
In 2002, following the massive expansion and plant enhancement drive that occurred between 1988 and 2002, GSFC was veering on the bank of a cash crunch. After taking damage control measures with the state government's support, the company worked on strategies to enhance productivity and bring down costs through technical innovations and improved management information systems. Over the last five years the company has entered the Second Green Revolution but developing alternative energy generation facilities and initiating the spread of drip irrigation systems in Gujarat.
The company has provided valuable services to farmers by way of agricultural inputs and marketing support. In order to meet its feedstock requirements, GSFC is going global starting with a joint venture to establish Tunisian Indian Fertlisers SA, whose production will ensure the consistent supply of Phosphoric acid needed for the production of DAP. These steps are in tune with GSFC’s mission of being world-class, eco-friendly global company.