Why is India pushing for coal gasification? | Explained

📌 Summary:

• Union Coal & Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy held a roadshow promoting SURFACE COAL GASIFICATION as a strategic technology pathway
• Technology has potential to substitute imports worth up to ₹3 LAKH CRORE — by replacing imported natural gas, methanol, ammonia, urea and other petrochemical feedstocks
• Union Cabinet approved a ₹37,500-CRORE INCENTIVE PACKAGE for the sector to encourage coal gasification projects
• Why push: India has the world's 5th largest coal reserves (~378 BT estimated) but imports much of its natural gas, fertiliser feedstock and chemicals
• Gasification converts coal into SYNGAS (CO + H2) which can be processed into methanol, ammonia, urea, hydrogen, synthetic natural gas (SNG) and Fischer-Tropsch diesel
• Reduces import bill on natural gas/urea/methanol and supports the National Hydrogen Mission (coal-to-grey-hydrogen pathway, with CCUS for blue hydrogen)
• Environmental concern: coal gasification still produces CO2 — only "clean" if combined with Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS); else it raises emissions footprint relative to LNG

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS3 Economy & Environment — Energy security, import substitution, coal-to-chemicals value chain; trade-off between Atmanirbhar Bharat (use of domestic coal) and net-zero by 2070; National Coal Gasification Mission and PLI/incentive framework for the sector.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• ₹37,500 crore — Cabinet-approved incentive package for coal gasification
• ₹3 lakh crore — potential import substitution from coal gasification (per Minister)
• Coal Ministry target: 100 Million Tonnes of coal to be gasified by 2030
• Gasification produces SYNGAS = mixture of CO + H2
• India's coal reserves rank ~5th globally; most coal is high-ash low-sulphur thermal coal from Gondwana basins
• Coal India Ltd (CIL) is the largest gasification project promoter under the scheme

🔑 Key Term: Coal Gasification — thermo-chemical process that converts coal (in presence of controlled oxygen/steam) into SYNGAS (CO + H2), which can be used to produce chemicals, fuels, fertilisers and hydrogen — viewed as a route to monetise India's coal reserves beyond power generation.