KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) - India would seek to enhance its food security by aiming to gain greater access to fertiliser minerals and intermediates in Morocco, Tunisia and Sudan during External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid’s tour of the African nations starting Thursday.

The Minister’s first three-day stop would be Morocco, an important Indian source for rock phosphate and phosphoric acid, where he would hold a meeting with his counterpart and was expected to engage in dialogue in expanding trade ties with the North African nation in fertiliser minerals.

The $43-billion OCP Group Morocco has collaborations with Indian chemical and fertiliser majors, such as Tata Chemicals and Chambal Fertilisers and Chemicals Limited, and exports about 400 000 t/y of phosphoric acid to India.

India imports about five-million tonnes a year of rock phosphate and around 20% of it was sourced from Morocco.

Though agenda points of the dialogues between the Indian Foreign Minister and his African counterparts were not available, officials indicated that expanding existing collaborations between the two countries in phosphate and phosphatic fertilisers would surely figure during the Minister’s second-leg, three-day stay in Tunisia.

Officials here indicated that expansion of Tunisia-India Fertilizer SA, a $450-million fertiliser joint venture (JV) between the two counties, could be on the cards. The JV produces 360 000 t/y of phosphoric acid for exclusive shipment to India.

The final stop in Sudan would take place against the growing bilateral Indo-Sudan relationship, as signified by the latter offering two oil and gas blocks to India on a nomination basis earlier this month, an official said.

The oil and gas blocks to be developed by ONGC Videsh Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian government-owned exploration and production company ONGC Limited and its investment plans in the African nation would figure high on the agenda, the official added.