Coal India mulls setting up 4 coal gasification projects worth Rs 25,000-cr by 2026

• Currently, the feasibility of these projects is being studied and a report on the same is expected to be ready by November this year

• The four projects are expected to come up in West Bengal's Asansol, Maharashtra's Chandrapur area, Chhattisgarh's Surguja district and Jharkhand's Piparwar

New Delhi: In line with the government's push towards coal gasification, state-run Coal India Limited (CIL) is considering setting up four coal gasification projects worth Rs 25,000 crore by 2026. Currently, the feasibility of these projects is being studied and a report on the same is expected to be ready by November this year, CIL Director (Technical) Binay Dayal has said. The projects will require coal input of 6 Million Tonnes and will convert the fossil fuel into syngas — a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, natural gas, and water vapour.

Dayal said that the four projects are part of phase II and III of Coal India's coal gasification plan. "Under the first phase, Talcher Fertilizers is currently building a 2.5 MT coal gasification unit with an estimated investment of Rs 13,277 crore. And Coal India is setting up a coal gasification project in Dankuni coal complex in West Bengal at an estimated investment of Rs 5,800 crore. The learning from these two projects will drive the next two phases of the project," said the CIL top executive.

Where are these coal gasification projects coming up?

The four projects are expected to come up in West Bengal's Asansol (Eastern Coalfields Limited), Maharashtra's Chandrapur area (Western Coalfields Limited), Chhattisgarh's Surguja district (South Eastern Coalfields Limited) and Jharkhand's Piparwar (Central Coalfields Limited). While the ECL and the WCL projects will require coal input of 1 MTPA each, the SECL project will consume 1.5 MTPA of coal and the CCL project will need 2.5 MTPA of the fossil fuel. The tentative timeline for the completion of these projects is 2022-2026. 

Also read: India aims to achieve 100 MT coal gasification target by 2030: Pralhad Joshi

Dayal said that since imports from Gulf countries will pose competition in terms of pricing for products from these units, Coal India will require some support from the government to make these projects feasible. 

The backdrop

While launching commercial coal mine auction in June this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that India will invest around Rs 20,000 crore in four major projects for conversion of 100 million tonne (MT) of coal into gas by the end of 2030. The PM had said these reforms will make the eastern and central region of the country the pillars of development.

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