Indian ammonia and urea plants operate under a regulatory environment which mandates fertiliser companies to sell urea at a statutory retail price notified by the government. The retail price is much lower than cost of production. Therefore, government calculates cost of production of each urea plant to reimburse the difference in cost of production and retail price. Energy is the major cost element in total cost of production of urea. Therefore, the norm for specific energy consumption for each unit is fixed by the government. The industry can save money by improving upon the norm fixed by the government for cost calculations. Therefore, there is incentive for companies to invest in energy saving measures with reasonable payback period. A detailed technical and operating data including energy consumed in various forms is submitted to Department of Fertilizers by fertiliser companies every year.