By FY26, Coal India to invest Rs 910 billion on diversification

By 2025-2026, the nation's largest coal producer, Coal India Ltd (CIL), will invest Rs 910 billion in a number of initiatives, including mine development and diversification, according to PM Prasad, Chairman and Managing Director of CIL's Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL). Prasad was suggested by the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) for the position of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Coal India. A total of Rs 910 billion would be invested in diversification and other projects. These would be pumped in until 2025 or 2026, Prasad said in an interview after being chosen to lead the coal juggernaut. He said that Rs 360 billion will be used for coal gasification projects, while Rs 460 billion would go towards contracts with mining developers and operators (MDOs) and other things. The leftover funds will be used for a variety of different initiatives. For implementation through the MDO mode, CIL has already identified 15 greenfield projects with a combined project-rated capacity (PRC) of 168.58 million tonnes (MT) annually. Nine of these 15 projects have received Letters of Award and will be carried out by MDOs. A total of 127 MT of production can be produced by these nine projects. Six further mining projects are in various stages of development. Of the 15 projects, four are underground mines and eleven are opencast. Prasad stated regarding plans for diversification that three tenders have already been done for coal gasification project. Given the abundance of coal in the nation, the Centre has made the decision to heavily encourage coal gasification, which can produce a variety of energy, chemical, and petro-chemical products, the majority of which are now imported. CIL has agreements with BHEL, GAIL, and IOCL to establish four coal gasification projects, one lignite gasification project, and to develop domestic gasification technology.