Seven coal gasification projects will be built in Maharashtra, Odisha and West Bengal with a total investment of Rs 640 billion crore, Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy told the House of Federation (upper house of the Indian Parliament) on Monday. He noted that this would help reduce imports of energy products.
In a supplementary Q & A session during the Question Period, the Minister stressed that the Modi Government had implemented a number of reforms in the coal sector over the past 12 years. According to Reddy, the allocation of the coal blocks was made through a transparent auction process and no complaints or allegations were received. "Our country is well supplied with electricity," he said, adding that between 73 and 74 per cent of electricity comes from coal-fired thermal power plants. The minister also noted that 80 per cent of coal production is supplied to the electricity sector and the rest to other industries.
Reddy stressed that India is the second largest producer and consumer of coal. He said the country has the fifth largest coal reserves in the world, enough to last for at least 70 years, so the government has increased its exploration activities. Reddy said the government has also started coal gasification activities. "Seven projects are about to be launched and groundbreaking ceremonies for four of them have started. The total investment is 640 billion rupees," the minister said, adding that the central government is offering incentives for these projects. Of the seven projects, four are located in Maharashtra, two in Odisha and one in West Bengal.
He said that coal gasification converts coal into syngas, which is then used to produce methanol, ammonia, urea, hydrogen, synthetic natural gas (SNG), petrochemicals and liquid fuels. "By gasification, we can reduce our external dependence," Reddy said, adding that it would save foreign exchange spending and boost employment.
In a written response, the Minister stated that of the 131 coal blocks allocated under the Commercial Coal Mining Policy, 21 blocks had been licensed for mining and 12 blocks had been put into production as of 28 February 2026.
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