The project, being implemented by Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), is expected to mark a significant milestone in India’s sustainable energy sector and attract further investment to the state.
In a major boost for the state government, the country’s first underground coal gasification (UCG) project at the Kasta West coal block in the Pandaveswar area of West Burdwan district is nearing commercial production. The final trial run, which is expected to continue for the next three months, is currently underway.
The project, being implemented by Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), is expected to mark a significant milestone in India’s sustainable energy sector and attract further investment to the state.
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Speaking on the development, ECL Chairman-cum-Managing Director Satish Chandra Jha said: “Work has already started on the project and we hope that the trial phase will be completed within the next three months. Thereafter, we will be able to commence commercial production from the country’s first underground coal gasification project, which was allotted to ECL by the Central government.”
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Managed by ECL, a subsidiary of Coal India Limited, the pilot project is a pioneering initiative that converts unmineable coal directly into valuable industrial gases while the coal remains underground.
Mr Jha also said that a surface coal gasification project at Sonepur Bazari in West Bengal is being planned by ECL, although it is expected to take another year before becoming operational. The Coal India Limited-GAIL joint venture project, which will produce synthetic natural gas (SNG), is being developed at an estimated cost of Rs 13,052.8 crore.
Mr Jha said ECL is poised to become a key player in the country’s transition towards cleaner energy once commercial production begins, which is expected around September this year. Although the Ministry of Coal has set a production target of 56 million tonnes for ECL this year, the company has fixed an internal target of 62 million tonnes. “Over the past month, following the change in the state government, illegal coal mining has almost completely stopped in ECL’s leasehold areas in West Bengal,” Mr Jha claimed.
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