Coal India to ink MoU with Indian Oil, BHEL and GAIL for coal-to-chemical products

New Delhi: Coal India Limited (CIL) is scheduled to sign agreements with three other major public sector undertakings - Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) and GAIL (India) - next week for setting up four Surface Coal Gasification (SCG) projects.
As per an official statement released by the Ministry of Coal on Friday, the Memorandum of Undertaking (MoU) among the government-run firms will be signed on 27th September 2022 in New Delhi. These PSUs will join hands for setting up of coal-to-chemical projects through Surface Coal Gasification (SCG) route.
Through SCG route coal is converted into syngas that can be subsequently processed for downstream production of value added chemicals. These are otherwise produced through imported natural gas or crude oil. Envisaged end products would be di-methyl ether, synthetic natural gas and ammonium nitrate.
The upside of the proposed projects are reduced forex outgo and direct and indirect employment generation to the tune of 23,000, the Ministry of Coal said in a statement.
With the twin objectives of self-reliance and energy independence, Ministry of Coal has set a target for achieving 100 million tonne coal gasification by 2030, it said. (ANI)