Coal India to invest Rs 1,900 crore in R&D by FY2030

New Delhi: Coal India Limited (CIL) plans to invest around Rs 1,900 crore in research and development (R&D) by FY2030, as the company shifts its R&D focus from proof-of-concept studies to prototype development, CIL said in a statement on Tuesday.

The R&D push gathered momentum in FY2024-25 with the establishment of the National Centre for Coal and Energy Research (NaCCER), a research centre built on a hub-and-spoke model. Since then, the company has moved its focus to prototype development corresponding to Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-4 and above.

"We intend to shift R&D to a higher orbit to drive the company's future growth and technological transformation," a senior CIL official said.

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R&D expenditure rose four-fold in FY2024-25

CIL's R&D expenditure rose four-fold to Rs 245 crore in FY2024-25 from Rs 61 crore in FY2023-24. The Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) mandates annual R&D expenditure averaging one percent of the profit before tax of the preceding three years. CIL has also formulated a comprehensive R&D Policy to provide a structured innovation framework.

Centres of Excellence set up at three IITs

To strengthen industry-academia collaboration, CIL has established three Centres of Excellence (CoE) at premier IITs — the Centre of Clean Coal Energy and Net Zero (CLEANZ) at Hyderabad, the Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) at Madras, and Innovation in Mining (IMiN) at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. 

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These centres function as research spokes under NaCCER, undertaking pilot-scale research, prototype development and technology validation. CIL has committed Rs 253 crore to the CoEs, to be released in phases.

At present, 19 R&D projects with a total outlay of Rs 225 crore are being executed by scientific institutions under NaCCER's direct oversight, while 13 research projects involving pilot-scale research and prototype development are underway at the CoEs.

Research portfolio spans clean coal, critical minerals, nuclear feasibility

CLEANZ is engaged in research on clean coal and net-zero technologies, including enhanced coal bed methane recovery, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, mineral beneficiation, recovery of rare earth elements and critical minerals, high-ash coal gasification, and syngas utilisation. CSE is focusing on sustainable materials, circular economy, mine repurposing, environmental remediation, feasibility assessment of micro modular nuclear reactors, and advanced wastewater treatment technologies. IMiN is dedicated to capacity building through research fellowships and developing solutions to identified mining challenges.

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International collaborations across three countries

CIL has forged international collaborations with Ergo Exergy of Canada for the Underground Coal Gasification project at ECL; Ericsson of Sweden for the implementation of 5G technology at the Jhanjra underground mine; and CSIRO of Australia to advance collaborative research.

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