NTPC sole applicant in second round of coal gasification scheme

The second round of application under the coal gasification scheme saw response from only NTPC Ltd for two projects. The coal ministry had received applications from five companies in the first round under the scheme that has an outlay of Rs 37,500 crore.

Minister G Kishan Reddy had said after the first round that the ministry expected more companies to apply in the second one.

The scheme, approved by the cabinet in May with a Rs 37,500-crore outlay, offers financial support for setting up coal gasification projects, with the aim to scale up production of industrial feedstocks and fuels from domestic coal and cut import dependence for LNG, urea, ammonia and methanol.


Together, they accounted for around Rs 2.77 lakh crore in imports in FY25.

In the second round, concluded on Tuesday, the applications envisage the production of urea, methanol, and dimethyl ether.

"NTPC's continued participation is encouraging. However, the limited response in the second round highlights the need to complement financial incentives with schemes that help create commercially viable and bankable coal gasification projects that attract wider private sector investment," Atanu Mukherjee, CEO of Dastur Energy, said.

In the first round that concluded in September, applications were received from Adani Enterprises, NTPC, Talcher Fertilisers, Gallantt Ispat and Shyam Sel & Power for seven projects.

Adani Enterprises had submitted three separate proposals for urea production in the first round.

The coal ministry also launched the third round under the scheme on Tuesday, with the last date for submission on January 11.

The ministry said it aims to encourage wider industry participation, attract investments and accelerate the adoption of coal gasification technologies, contributing towards the national target of achieving 100 million tonnes of coal gasification capacity by 2030