Loading…
The Ministry of Coal rejected press reports that its Rs 37,500 crore Scheme for Promotion of Surface Coal/Lignite Gasification Projects had attracted no applications, noting the first window was still open.
The scheme was approved by the Union Cabinet on 13 May 2026 to convert domestic coal and lignite into syngas, methanol, ammonia and urea and cut dependence on imported feedstock.
Talcher Fertilizers Limited and NTPC Limited had already applied through the online portal; the first-round deadline was 7 September 2026.
Application rounds run on a rolling basis — each new round opens the day after the previous one closes and stays open two months.
The scheme is expected to draw Rs 2.5-3 lakh crore of investment across about 25 projects and support the target of 100 million tonnes of coal gasification capacity by 2030.
Coal is reacted with controlled oxygen and steam instead of being burnt, producing synthesis gas — mainly carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Syngas is then converted into methanol, ammonia, urea or synthetic natural gas, turning a fuel into a chemical feedstock.
World's largest coal producer; Maharatna CPSE with eight subsidiaries including BCCL, CCL, ECL, WCL, SECL, NCL, MCL and CMPDI
Navratna CPSE incorporated in 1956 for lignite mining and pit-head lignite-based power; operates opencast lignite mines at Neyveli and Barsingsar and a coal mine at Talabira
Joint venture of GAIL, Coal India, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers and Fertilizer Corporation of India, reviving FCIL's Talcher unit through the coal gasification route
India's largest power generating company and a Maharatna CPSE; an applicant under the gasification scheme
Enacted after the Supreme Court cancelled coal block allocations in 2014; provides for auction and allotment of the cancelled mines listed in its Schedules
Amended both the MMDR Act 1957 and the CMSP Act 2015 to remove end-use restrictions, opening coal mining to commercial players beyond power and steel and allowing composite prospecting-cum-mining licences for coal and lignite
Launched on 18 June 2020, the policy shift that made domestic coal available to non-captive buyers and made downstream conversion projects like gasification commercially conceivable
GS Paper 3 > Infrastructure: Energy; Indigenisation of Technology
General Awareness > Economy and Government Schemes
Consider the following substances: I. Ethanol II. Nitroglycerine III. Urea Coal gasification technology can be used in the production of how many of them?
Answer: Only two
Synthesis gas, chiefly carbon monoxide and hydrogen, produced by reacting coal with oxygen and steam; the feedstock for methanol, ammonia and urea
The lowest rank of coal, high in moisture and low in carbon, mined mainly in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Gujarat and usually burnt at pit-head power stations
A capped one-time or deferred capital grant used to make a socially desirable but commercially unviable project financially attractive