The Government has taken the following initiatives to promote coal and lignite gasification in the public and private sectors-
On January 24, 2024, the Government has approved an incentive scheme for promotion of coal and lignite gasification projects for PSUs and private sector with an outlay of ₹ 8,500 crore.
The Government has also approved investment by Coal India Limited (CIL) in joint ventures of Coal India Limited – Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (CIL-BHEL) and Coal India Limited – Gas Authority of India Limited (CIL-GAIL) for undertaking coal gasification projects. Both JV companies have now been established.
In 2022, a new sub-sector, “Production of Syngas leading to coal gasification,” was created under the Non-Regulated Sector (NRS) linkage auctions policy to support coal gasification initiative.
The Government has allowed coal supply to gasification projects under the NRS auction with a floor price at the notified price of the regulated sector, for the projects commissioning within the next seven years.
50% rebate in the revenue share for coal used in gasification has been introduced in commercial coal block auctions, provided that at least 10% of the total coal production is used for gasification purposes.
A framework has been established for granting waivers from registration for Transfer of Technology (ToT) from land-border-sharing countries on a case-by-case basis. Waiver to one application has been granted.
The aforesaid ₹8500 crore financial incentive scheme has the following three categories against which a total of 7 (seven) projects have been approved–
Category I – with a provision of ₹4,050 crores under which only PSUs were entitled to apply, a total of three projects with Government assistance of ₹1,350 crores each have been approved.
Category II – with a provision of ₹3,850 crores under which both private sector and PSUs were entitled to apply, a total of three private sector projects with Government assistance amounting to ₹1,983.06 crores have been approved.
Category III – with a provision of ₹600 crores for demonstration or small-scale projects, one private sector project with ₹100 crores of Government assistance has been approved.
This information was given by Union Minister of Coal and Mines Shri G. Kishan Reddy in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.
