Coal Ministry calls for indigenisation of gasification technology for Indian conditions

Coal Ministry has called for indigenisation of coal gasification technology to adapt to Indian conditions to make urea and ammonia from gasified coal at scale to reduce the overall cost and import dependence. Speaking at an event in New Delhi, Coal Ministry’s Additional Secretary Rupinder Brar said: “If you keep bringing technology from overseas, then you always wait for technicians to come over as a cascading effect.”Assuring that India is consistently maintaining coal stock for over 20 days of use during summers, she said that the government is ready to ensure no slippages in coal production during monsoons. Urging industry stakeholders to give their comments on the draft RFP for coal gasification by 12th June, she expressed confidence on huge participation in the coal gasification scheme by the end of 2026.India currently imports around 85% of its crude oil requirement. Another speaker at the event, Director at the Ashoka Centre for a People-Centric Energy Transition (ACPET) of the Ashoka University, Vaibhav Chowdhary indicated that if coal gasification picks up, crude oil imports could come down to 65-70% of India’s total requirement, which would save foreign exchange spent to buy 15-20% of the current import volumes.Last month, India had approved a Rs. 37,500 crore coal gasification scheme, with the Cabinet announcement indicating an expectation to to generate Rs. 6,300 cr revenue per year only from mining. The government had highlighted plants to complete all 25 plants in a period of 5 years, with 4 under-construction projects expected to be completed in a year. India is aiming at 100 million tonnes of coal gasification by 2030, with a Rs. 8,500 crore incentive scheme already in place before the Cabinet announcement. The government is yet to provide an estimate on extent of import substitution of LNG/LPG via coal gasification.On 27th October 2025, CNBC-TV18 had reported citing government sources that big corporates had expressed their interest to expand operations in the sector. Government sources had told CNBC-TV18 that a new action plan/policy is being prepared, and three large conglomerates were learnt to have expressed their interest in investing more to increase their footprint in coal gasification.Sources had indicated that private partnerships with Coal India for underground coal gasification were being explored, even as India explores technology partnerships in underground coal gasification with several countries. Highlighting that many companies are ready for pilot projects in coal gasification, sources had pointed out that the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was monitoring the increase in coal gasification by PSUs and the private sector. While surface coal gasification is already being tested in several parts of India, sources had added that underground coal gasification will be less polluting, as witnessed in ongoing projects in China, France, Germany and Canada.(Edited by : Srabastee Biswas)

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