The Ministry of Coal has reached a significant milestone in India’s Coal Gasification Initiative with the issuance of Letters of Award (LOAs) to the selected applicants under Categories I and III of the Rs. 8,500 crore Coal Gasification Incentive Scheme.

Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Vikram Dev Dutt presented the LOAs in the august presence of Additional Secretary, Vismita Tej, and Advisor (Projects), Anandji Prasad, OSD (Technical), Asheesh Kumar, Director (Technical), BK Thakur, Ministry of Coal. 

Key Awardees under the Scheme:

Category I: Government PSUs / Joint Ventures of Government PSUs (For allocation of Rs 1,350 crore per project or 15% of capex, whichever is lower)

Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited: The BCGCL, a joint venture of CIL-BHEL has been awarded Rs. 1,350 crore of financial incentive under the Scheme for its coal gasification project in Lakhanpur, Orissa. With a total investment of Rs. 11,768 crore, the project aims to produce 0.66 MMTPA of Ammonium Nitrate.

Coal India Limited (CIL – GAIL Consortium): The CIL-GAIL joint venture project in Sonepur Bazari, West Bengal, has been awarded ₹1,350 crore of financial incentive under the Scheme. This project, costing Rs. 13,052.81 crore, will focus on converting coal into Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) with a production capacity of 1.83 MMSCMD.

Coal India Limited: The coal-to-SNG project in Niljai Ext. OC Wani Area, Maharashtra, has been awarded Rs. 1,350 crore of financial incentive under the Scheme. The project, with a total cost of Rs. 12,214.86 crore, aims for a production capacity of 1.83 MMSCMD of Synthetic Natural Gas.

Category III: Demonstration Projects / Small-Scale Product based Plants (For allocation of Rs 100 crore per project or 15% of capex, whichever is lower)

New Era Cleantech Solution Private Limited: The coal-to-ethanol demonstration project in Chandrapur, Maharashtra, has been awarded Rs. 100 crore of financial incentive under the Scheme. With a total investment of Rs. 667 crore, the project will utilize Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) technology, capturing approximately 20,144 MT of CO2 annually while producing 18 KTPA of ethanol.