India way behind China in coal gasification

India's first coal gasification plant is now being built by private sector Jindal Steel and Power Ltd.

State-run Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizer and Gas Authority of India Ltd are working on the second one.

Jindal's plant in the eastern state of Orissa will use low-quality, high-ash coal, the variety that abounds in India, to produce 5.7 million standard cubic metre per day of gas.

Indian technology that could convert its coal reserves into enough gas and oil is at least a decade behind China.

The technology has become necessary for India to surmount chronic power shortages and halve its energy import bill of $110 billion a year.

Coal gasification in India, a technology used to access even unmineable reserves, is almost four decades old, but it is only now that its first such plant is about to start production with a second one still on the drawing board.

It will be at least five more years before India reaps significant benefits from this technology to produce feedstock for more steel, power and fertilisers, experts say.

"India is lagging behind in adopting technologies related to coal gasification," said Parthasarathi Deb, Senior Vice President of Reliance Industries Ltd.

In comparison, China has some 50 coal gasification plants running and it is ploughing ahead with another 40. And while India is just beginning to turn coal into gas, China has already moved into producing liquid fuels such as diesel from coal.

The difference means India's coal-use efficiency is about half the world average of 50 percent, its coal-dependent power producers have never met production targets and the country's total electricity output is just a fifth of China's.

"Only about a third of India's proven coal reserves is mineable, which means gasification should have been the top priority if India were serious about using coal efficiently," said Amitava Banerjee, technical adviser of Lurgi India.

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