India to take up coal gasification in a big way: Minister

ALLAHABAD: Amid growing concerns over environmental degradation and fast depletion of fuel reserves, the Government today said it is planning to take up coal gasification on a large scale.

"Our production of coal has gone up by 10 per cent in the last couple of years. Although it is no mean achievement, this is hardly a laurel we can rest on as the demand for coal has risen at the same speed during the period," Union Minister of State for Coal Sriprakash Jaiswal said here.

"In addition, production of coal and its consumption as a fuel poses hazards to our environmental health. In such circumstances, coal gasification is emerging as a viable option," he said.

The minister noted that underground coal gasification, which has been adopted by a number of countries the world over, is "an economically and ecologically viable technology which can be used for producing fuel".

Admitting that price rise was a major cause of concern, Jaiswal however assured that "things will become normal in the near future".

Replying to a query on the Liberhan Commission report, Jaiswal said, "we are of the view that the guilty should be punished but we would not like to comment much as that is a legal matter".