By Enersider Desk | New Delhi | 19 June 2026
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone of a Rs 25,016 crore coal gasification project at Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district, Odisha, on June 20, 2026, according to an official release.
The Lakhanpur project is India’s first commercial-scale coal-to-ammonium nitrate facility. The project is being developed by Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited (BCGCL), a joint venture of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and Coal India Limited (CIL). It will produce 2,000 tonnes per day of ammonium nitrate using indigenously developed coal gasification technology by BHEL.
Coal gasification converts coal into synthesis gas (syngas), which can be used to produce products such as methanol, urea, ammonium nitrate, synthetic natural gas, and other chemical feedstocks.
India is the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of coal, with the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves of over 400 billion tonnes.
The union government has approved incentive schemes with a cumulative outlay of up to Rs 46,000 crore to promote Surface Coal and Lignite Gasification Projects. India currently imports end-use and intermediate chemical products worth approximately Rs 2.7 lakh crore annually.
The coal gasification promotion initiative is expected to catalyse investments of Rs 2.5 to 3 lakh crore and create around 50,000 direct and indirect employment opportunities across 25 projects in coal-bearing regions.
A land-leasing agreement was signed in April between BCGCL and CIL’s subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL). The project will come up on about 350 acres under MCL possession and has received required clearances. The Ministry of Coal has enabled the use of coal bearing area land for such projects and is providing Rs 1,350 crore support under its incentive scheme.
