DPR for Rs 8000-cr coal-based Talcher fertilizer plant soon

The detailed project report (DPR) for the Rs 8000-crore coal gasification project cum fertilizer plant at Talcher planned by a consortium of three companies- Coal India Limited (CIL), GAIL India Limited and Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers (RCF) would be prepared soon.

The DPR would be prepared by Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), a fully owned subsidiary of Coal India Limited (CIL).

“CMPDI will prepare the DPR for the coal gasification project cum fertilizer plant and the report would be readied soon. But the land and plant which belongs to the state owned Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCI) has to be made available to us so that we can go ahead with the project. Presently, FCI is under the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) and the progress of the project depends on bringing the FCI out of the purview of BIFR”, a top CIL official told Business Standard.

Each of the three companies- CIL, GAIL and RCF which will have an equal stake in the project, have already completed two rounds of talks on the matter.

It may be noted that the modalities of the project have changed ever since the project was envisaged in 2008. CIL had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ONGC for the coal gasification project while GAIL had inked an MoU with RCF for setting up the fertilizer plant as a 50:50 joint venture.

A coal block at Talcher Coalfields under the command area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of CIL, been identified for this surface-based coal gasification project. This coal block has a capacity of 5.5 million tonnes per annum and once washed, it will yield 3.7 million tonnes.

The gas so generated would be used for making urea and ammonium nitrate, one of the important explosives used by CIL. The fertilizer plant is expected to meet around 30 per cent of CIL's requirement of ammonium nitrate.

At present, CIL procures 3.5 lakh tonnes of explosives annually at a cost of Rs 1300 crore.

Meanwhile, CIL had also planned an under ground coal gasification project with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). The coal block identified for the coal gasification project is spread over an area of 4 sq km and it is located in the command area of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of CIL.

“The drilling work for this project is over and we have already given a detailed report to ONGC. Now, ONGC has to select technology partners for proceeding on the project”, said the CIL official.