NEW DELHI: Coal India, India’s state-owned coal miner that’s also the world’s largest, on Saturday announced that it would float an expression of interest for a coal to liquid (CTL) project. “We have authorised Central Coalfield to float EoI for a CTL project at Chatar,” Coal India chairman Sutirtha Bhattacharya said in Kolkata on Saturday on the sidelines of Coal Consumer Association of India event on coal quality.
The company has already asked technology licensors for converting coal to chemical for a commercial project at Dankuni, West Bengal.
The Central Coalfield project will be a CTL one, which is usually referred to as coal to auto fuel. However, the Dankuni project is a coal-based methanol plant from high calorific of Eastern Coalfields.
“The details of the project can only be known after we know what kind of technology is brought on the table by expert agencies,” Bhattacharya said. He added that efforts had been taken to ensure coal quality. Also, consultants had been engaged to overcome taxation issues with the consumers arising when there is difference between assured coal quality and final delivery.
Sasol of South Africa, a leader in coal to liquid technology, was in talks with Coal India earlier on this. Officials said that the investment potential even can run to the tune of `10,000-12,000 crore in producing hydrocarbons from coal with new age refineries.