JSPL hopeful of CCI nod for coal-to-liquid project

Venture has been suffering owing to delays in grant of prospecting license, forest clearance

The Naveen Jindal-promoted Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) is hopeful the Union cabinet will approve its Rs 77,450-crore coal-to-liquid (CTL) project in Odisha.

The project, hailed as the first of its kind, would convert coal into petroleum products such as diesel and naphtha, reducing the country’s dependence on imported crude oil. The venture has recorded delays in securing a prospecting licence for an attached coal block, Ramchandi Promotional, as well as a forest clearance from the state government. JSPL has presented the issues awaiting resolution before the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI).

“We had requested the petroleum ministry to accept our application to CCI, as the administrative ministry (which is a procedural requirement of CCI) and we believe the ministry has accepted our submission. Now, we believe CCI will consider our request to facilitate the grant of necessary approvals from the state or central governments,” a company spokesperson told Business Standard in reply to an e-mail questionnaire.

The Ramchandi Promotional block, which has estimated reserves of 1,500 million tonnes, was allocated to JSPL in 2009 and production from the block is set to commence in November 2014.