The Indian coal ministry has into agreements for the production and development of four mines with successful bidders. Reliance Industries has secured the Recherla and Chintalpudi sector A1 mines in Andhra Pradesh state, and Axis Energy Ventures India has secured the Dip Extension of Belpahar and Tangardihi East coal mines in Odisha state.
This is the first commercial coal mine agreements in India to carry embedded provisions of underground coal gasification (UCG).
UCG is a process converting coal to synthetic gas in situ, directly within the seam, without the need for conventional mining. This process allows for the use of unworkable coal seams that were earlier economically inaccessible through traditional extraction methods.
The new technology will also allow for production of potential derivative coal products to help the domestic economy and improve food security.
The syngas produced as part of UCG can be used as domestic feedstock to manufacture urea and ammonia, reducing dependency on imported fertilisers. The syngas can also replace natural gas and naphtha for base feedstock for domestic production of methanol, dimethyl ether, and synthetic fuels.
This has been done as part of the 14th commercial coal mining auctions. With this, the total number of commercial coal auction agreements in India to 138 mines, projected to attract capital investments of INR482.31 billion (USD5.08 billion).
