Now Reading: Coal gasification can cut ₹1.96 lakh cr imports, says A&M, BCGCL begins Odisha plant
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Coal gasification can cut ₹1.96 lakh cr imports, says A&M, BCGCL begins Odisha plant
Coal gasification can cut ₹1.96 lakh cr imports, says A&M, BCGCL begins Odisha plant
The Story in Brief
India can save imports worth ₹1.96 lakh crore annually by developing a domestic coal gasification ecosystem, consultancy Alvarez & Marsal said on Thursday at the Gasification India 2026 event. The report said India imported ₹1.18 lakh crore of natural gas, ₹46,000 crore of urea and ₹9,600 crore of ammonia and methanol in FY2025-26, and domestic production through coal gasification could partially substitute these, reduce global price exposure and strengthen forex resilience. The coal ministry has projected investment of ₹2.5 to 3 lakh crore and 50,000 jobs across about 25 projects.
Separately, Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Ltd, the Coal India-BHEL joint venture, has started ground construction for its ₹25,000-crore coal gasification project in Odisha, managing director Peeyush Kumar said. Contracts worth ₹15,000 crore have been awarded: ₹10,000 crore to BHEL for gasification and syngas packages, and ₹5,000 crore to L&T for ammonia and ammonium nitrate packages. The plant will produce 0.66 million tonnes per year of technical grade ammonium nitrate, using indigenously developed pressurised fluidised bed gasification technology.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Business Standard leads with the macro import-substitution case, using Alvarez & Marsal’s report to project ₹1.96 lakh crore in annual savings from coal gasification, and foregrounds the investment and jobs the ministry expects. Economic Times leads with the earliest firm project, BCGCL’s ₹25,000-crore Odisha plant, and names the contractors (BHEL, L&T) and packages. Both outlets report the same Gasification India 2026 event and the same core push for coal-to-chemicals. The two framings are complementary rather than conflicting: one supplies the policy arithmetic, the other the execution milestone. Neither outlet is government-critical or sensationalist, each adopts a neutral-encouraging tone. The concrete next step both point to is the contracting and construction schedule BCGCL has begun.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): business-standard.com (neutral report), economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
