New Delhi: Coal India Limited (CIL) has signed a joint venture agreement with GAIL (India) Limited for setting up a coal-to-synthetic natural gas, or syngas, plant through surface coal gasification route. “We have signed a Joint Venture agreement (JV) with GAIL for setting up a Coal to Synthetic Natural Gas plant through the surface coal gasification (SCG) technology route,” CIL in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.
“This collaboration is a big step towards the National Coal Gasification Mission, which facilitates the utilisation of the chemical properties of coal,” Coal India said. This will be CIL’s second coal gasification plant. Earlier in February 2024, Coal India signed up a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) for setting up India’s first commercial-scale ammonium nitrate plant through surface coal gasification (SCG) technology route. A joint venture company, named Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited (BCGCL), has also been formed to set up the project in Odisha.
The plant to come up in the Raniganj area of Coal India’s subsidiary, Eastern Coalfields Limited, West Bengal, will produce 80000 Nm3/hr of Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG). The annual production is slated at 633.6 million Nm3, requiring 1.9 million tonnes of coal, that they will supply.
Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) is a fuel gas predominantly consisting of methane, CH4 which is a feedstock for the production of various chemicals and fertilizers. Coal India’s Director (Business Development) Debasish Nanda, GAIL’s Director (Business Development) RK Singhal signed the agreement on behalf of Coal India and GAIL, respectively. Petroleum Secretary Pankaj Jain, Additional Coal Secretary M Nagaraju, Additional Coal Secretary Rupinder Brar and GAIL CMD SK Gupta CMD GAIL were present on the occasion.
“This joint venture of Coal India aligns with the Nation’s broader energy strategy, which focusses on increasing the share of cleaner energy sources, reducing natural gas imports, and advancing the Atmanirbhar mission,” said CIL.
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