Managing Director of Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL), V R Sharma, told the media that the company has planned to set up a coal gasification plant at its Raigarh plant in Chhattisgarh.
JSPL is already using coal gasification technology to produce steel at its plant in Angul, Odisha. The two million tonnes per annum (mtpa) production capacity plant was inaugurated in 2018, India's first and the only plant producing steel from swadeshi coal using the coal gasification technology. Sharma said that as part of the company's mission to promote diversification of usage of coal, the company would set up one more coal gasification plant at our plant in Raigarh. Sharma said that in the gasification process, coal is converted into syngas, which can be used for producing power, petrol, diesel and other petroleum products. He said that syngas could be used in the sponge iron making industry, glass and ceramic industry and cooking. India can also produce the cheapest hydrogen through the coal gasification method. The government is promoting and encouraging the usage of alternative use of energy across various sectors like automotive etc. The company aims to produce at least 50% of steel capacity through green and environment-friendly technologies. Earlier, he said India had coal reserves for another 300 years, and the domestic industry should use coal through the gasification process. Besides steel, aluminium, power, copper etc., are the sectors that use coal to run power plants. The gasification technology would help India in overcoming the shortage of oil, gas, methanol, ammonia, urea and other products, contributing to Atma Nirbhar Bharat. Image Source
