Coal gasification gets Industry Push As India Seeks To Cut Import Dependence
The discussions gained significance against the backdrop of the Centre’s push for coal gasification and financial support under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme.
Bhubaneswar: Coal gasification is emerging as a key industrial pathway for India to convert its abundant domestic coal reserves into strategic fuels, chemicals and feedstock, with industry leaders calling for faster deployment of technology and stronger policy support to reduce import dependence.
The Coal Gasifiers Association of India (CGAI), the industry body representing the sector, recently organised an international conference in Bhubaneswar on “Challenges, Opportunities and New Technologies in Coal Gasification”, bringing together policymakers, technology experts and executives from the coal, energy and steel sectors.
More than 25 experts presented technical papers at the conference, focusing particularly on technologies to process India’s high-ash coal and develop domestic manufacturing capabilities for chemicals and other products currently dependent on imports.
Senior executives from Coal India, Mahanadi Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields, GAIL, NTPC and Jindal Steel participated in the deliberations, while international experts from Canada and a delegation from Sri Lanka also attended.
The discussions gained significance against the backdrop of the Centre’s push for coal gasification and financial support under the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. Industry leaders argued that scaling up the technology could help create new value chains around domestic coal while advancing the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat agenda.
A field visit to Jindal Steel’s Angul complex provided delegates with a first-hand look at one of India’s notable applications of coal gasification in steelmaking. The facility includes a coal-gasification-based direct reduced iron (CGP-DRI) plant, which uses synthesis gas generated from coal gasification in the DRI process.
The delegates also visited the company’s steelmaking facilities, including its large blast furnace, and reviewed technologies being deployed as part of the plant’s expansion.
Sanjay Singh, advisor to Jindal Steel and president of CGAI, Dr A.K. Balyan, general secretary, and vice-president and coal gasification expert Kapil Dhagat were among those present. R.K. Singhal, director, business development, GAIL, also attended the conference.
Asit Tripathy, former chief secretary of Odisha, was the chief guest.
CGAI said the conference sought to strengthen collaboration among industry, technology providers and policymakers to accelerate the adoption of coal gasification and build domestic capabilities in clean-coal technologies, energy and industrial feedstock.
