Cabinet approves ₹37,500 crore package to boost coal gasification

Providing a fillip to the country’s pursuit of coal gasification, the Union Cabinet Wednesday approved a ₹37,500 crore package to boost the sustainable alternate mining method.

The package seeking to promote surface coal gasification entails conversion of coal into syngas (that is, synthetic gas) which be further used to produce downstream products like urea – about one-fifth of whose requirement is met through imports, methanol – approximately 80-90% of it is met through imports, ammonia on which there is complete import dependency, synthetic natural gas (SNG) and fertilisers, among other products.

“India’s import bill for key substitutable products LNG, urea, ammonium nitrate, ammonia, coking coal, methanol, DME and others stood at approximately ₹2.77 lakh crore in FY2025, a vulnerability further exposed by the ongoing geopolitical situation in West Asia,” the press announcement held.