Odisha govt, Jindal Synfuels to sign MoU for coal-to-liquid project soon

The decks seem to be clearing for the ambitious Rs 60,000-crore coal-to-liquid (CTL) project proposed by Jindal Synfuels Ltd, a subsidiary of Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL). The project envisages a production of 80,000 barrels of oil per day and will be located at Durgapur in Angul district.

The Odisha government has decided to sign an MoU soon with the project proponent for a period of nine years.

"The draft MoU to be signed with Jindal Synfuels is ready. It has been decided that the MoU tenure shall be for nine years with a clause that after every three years, the project will be reviewed. The company has to submit milestones to be achieved in three years and in six years to the industries department”, an industries department source said.

The CTL project needs 4000 acres of land and the state government has decided to provide at least 50 per cent land to Jindal Synfuels without waiting for benchmarking and other detailed analysis.

A host of milestones have to be achieved within three years from the date of MoU execution- finalisation of land and water assessment by state owned Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol), securing prospecting license for Ramchandi coal block allocated for the project, exploration of the coal block and commencement of land acquisition activities.

Other activities to be taken up include submission of detailed feasibility report for water management plan, preparation of environment impact assessment (EIA) as well as socio-economic study for the CTL project and coal mine, sampling and testing of coal and commencement of rehabilitation & resettlement (R&R) activities.

The draft MoU also stipulates activities to be taken up from the fourth to sixth year- continuation of land acquisition and R&R for balance land, applying for mining lease for the coal block, securing environment & forest clearances for the CTL project and obtaining consent to establish from the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB).

Since the project is coming up in the critically polluted Angul-Talcher cluster, the SPCB may impose such conditions as necessary to ensure that the environment quality of the area is not adversely affected and the proponent may be required to adopt advanced pollution control technology.

The CTL plant will produce petrol, diesel, kerosene and aviation fuel.

Direct and indirect employment is expected to be generated for 30,000 people through this project.Similarly, another CTL project being developed by Strategic Energy Technology Systems Ltd will set up in Dhenkanal district at a cost of Rs 45,000 crore.

This CTL project too, would have a production capacity of 80,000 barrels per day and create about 6400 direct jobs. The project needs about 4000 acres of land.