Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a Rs 25,016 crore coal gasification project at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district, Odisha, tomorrow, the Ministry of Coal said in a release on Friday.
Lakhanpur project backed by Rs 1,350 crore government incentive
The Lakhanpur project will be India’s first commercial-scale coal-to-ammonium nitrate facility, producing 2,000 tonnes per day of ammonium nitrate using indigenously developed coal gasification technology by Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). The project is being developed by Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited (BCGCL), a joint venture between BHEL and Coal India Limited (CIL).
A land-leasing agreement was signed in April between BCGCL and CIL’s subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). The project will come up on about 350 acres under MCL possession and has received the required clearances, with work expected to start after the foundation ceremony. The Ministry of Coal is providing Rs 1,350 crore support under its incentive scheme.
Government targets Rs 46,000 crore in incentives for coal gasification
The government has approved incentive schemes with a cumulative outlay of up to Rs 46,000 crore to promote surface coal and lignite gasification projects across the country, aimed at encouraging the use of domestic coal for strategic industrial and chemical outputs and reducing dependence on imports of natural gas, methanol, ammonia and other critical feedstocks.
India currently imports end-use and intermediate chemical products worth approximately Rs 2.7 lakh crore annually. The coal gasification promotion initiative is expected to catalyse investments of Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh crore and create around 50,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities across 25 projects in coal-bearing regions.
India is the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of coal, with CIL the largest coal-producing company globally, and holds the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves at over 400 billion tonnes.
