Coal news and updates

Govt approves Rs 1400cr incentives for coal gasification projects in Chandrapur

Nagpur: Two coal gasification projects coming up at Chandrapur were approved with a combined financial incentive of over Rs 1,400 crore by the govt. New Era Cleantech Solution Private Ltd, which bagged the highest share of Rs 1,000 crore, will be implementing a carbon capture and storage initiative too. This will lead to production of both ethanol and methanol.
The funds were allotted under the govt's Rs 8,500 crore coal gasification incentive scheme and will be available for equipment procurement to build the facility. This is followed by Greta Energy Limited, which received Rs 414 crore. Both New Era and Greta have plans to set up projects at Bhadravati in Chandrapur district. Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) also received an incentive of Rs 560 crore for its project at Angul in Odisha.
New Era's director, Balasaheb Darade, said it's the only company with a plan for carbon capture and the Co2 will be utilised for methanol and ethanol production. A methanol plant of 3,000 ton per day has been proposed along with a Rs 100cr grant approval for the ethanol-making project. "Ours is the only company to have bagged category 2 and 3 incentives," he said.
Approval of the grant will enable the company to complete financial closure and finalise loans for the project. New Era is setting up a Rs 7000cr project, of which as much as 70% will be funded through debt, he said. The plant would also produce 0.33 million metric tons per annum (MMPTA) of ammonium nitrate and 0.1 MMPTA of hydrogen through coal gasification. Ammonium nitrate can be used in the fertilizer and commercial explosive sector. Hydrogen is planned to be blended in natural gases. The latter plan is to also produce sustainable aviation fuel, said Darade.

Greta Energy, on the other hand, has plans to invest Rs 2,763 crore for producing 0.5 million ton per annum (MPTA) of direct reduced iron (DRI) through coal gasification. Coal gasification is a process to create syngas out of the fossil fuel, which can be used as a green alternative. The gas can be used for making hydrogen and ammonium nitrate, apart from replacing coal as fuel. The govt sees coal gasification as a means of reducing carbon emissions and bolstering energy security. It has set targets to take its production to 100 million by 2030. The incentive scheme is aimed at achieving this goal.
Cleantech's Tryst With Trump
Balasaheb Darade of New Era Cleantech attended the swearing-in ceremony of US president Donald Trump. He said during the visit, he discussed strengthening Indo-US ties on technology, energy security, and developing partnerships on clean energy fuels. He interacted with politicians, including cabinet members like Vivek Ramaswamy, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard, and Christ Wright, he told TOI.