India likely to become Aatmanirbhar in thermal coal production in coming months, says Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi [India] October 12 (ANI): The Union Coal Ministry signed a memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with five leading Public Sector Units (PSUs) for Coal gasification projects on Wednesday.
Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi said that in the next few months India is likely to become Aatmanirbhar in thermal coal production. Forty million tons of coal stock will be available with thermal power plants by March next year and as on 1 October 2022 the stock with thermal plants comes to 24 million tons. The Minister was addressing a function organized by Coal India Ltd.
For setting up four large scale coal-to-chemical projects through surface coal gasification route, Coal India Limited (CIL) signed three separate MoUS, one each, with three major PSUs of the country Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and GAIL (India) Limited. In addition, NLC India Limited (NLCIL) is signing MoU with BHEL.
To come up at an aggregated estimated cost of Rs. 35,000 crores the proposed surface coal gasification (SCG) projects are planned to be set up in West Bengal, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
According to an official statement through the SCG route coal is converted into syngas. This can be subsequently processed for downstream production of value added chemicals which are otherwise produced through imported natural gas or crude oil at enormous cost.
As the country's four major PSUs huddle together, the move is aimed at reducing forex outgo, promoting self-reliance and capitalization of indigenous resources. Another upside will be employment generation with direct employment of around 1200 personnel and indirect employment to the tune of over 20,000 persons.
With renewables and cleaner energy sources steadily gaining ground in alternative use of coal, in the future, diversification assumes greater importance. With the country endowed with 344 Billion Tonnes (BT) of coal resources, with 163 BT, proven coal to chemicals through SCG appears a safe bet subject to commercial viability.
The Coal Ministry on a mission mode is fast tracking the utilization of coal and has targeted to achieve 100 million ton (MT) coal gasification by 2030. Coal Ministry has also taken initiatives for allocating Rs. 6,000 crores to support CPSEs by incentivizing the implementation of five coal gasification plants.
While CIL the country's largest energy producer has identified SCG as one of its business diversification avenues, IOCL and GAIL bring to the table their decades of experience in taking up large-scale chemical and process plants.
BHEL has conducted pilot studies with their Pressurized Fluidized Bed Combustion technology and customized it to suit the requirements of high-ash Indian coal. The initiative of CIL and BHEL will lead to the commercialization of home-grown coal gasification technology. (ANI)