India possesses more than 200 billion tonnes of proven coal reserves and nearly 400 billion tonnes of total geological coal resources, making it one of the most coal-endowed nations in the world. Coal continues to play a critical role in India’s economic growth, energy security, industrial development, and food security through fertilizer production. Coal-based thermal power plants still account for nearly 70 per cent of India’s electricity generation. Recognizing the strategic importance of domestic coal resources, India has initiated a major policy shift toward coal gasification and coal-to-chemicals.

The Government of India has announced ambitious targets to achieve 100 million tonnes of coal gasification by 2030 and approved incentive support of approximately Rs 8,500 crore under various schemes to accelerate commercial deployment. Additional viability gap funding, fiscal incentives, and policy support are being extended for sectors such as fertilizers, methanol, synthetic fuels, hydrogen, and chemicals. This strategic push has acquired greater urgency due to growing geopolitical instability in the Middle East and recurring disruptions in global crude oil and LNG supply chains. India currently imports nearly 85-90 per cent of its crude oil requirements and about half of its natural gas demand, exposing the economy to major external vulnerabilities.

Despite sustained investments in domestic oil and gas exploration, India’s hydrocarbon import dependence remains high. Simultaneously, the country has made substantial progress in renewable energy, including solar power, bio-ethanol blending, compressed biogas, and green hydrogen initiatives. India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission aims to produce 5 million tonnes of green hydrogen annually by 2030. However, renewable energy alone may not fully address the country’s rapidly growing industrial feedstock and energy requirements in the medium term. In this context, coal gasification emerges as an important strategic pathway for enhancing energy sovereignty, reducing import dependence, and strengthening industrial self-reliance. Traditionally, coal in India has been used primarily for electricity generation. Through gasification, however, coal can be converted into synthesis gas (syngas), a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen, which serves as a versatile feedstock for producing Ammonia and fertilizers, Methanol and chemicals, Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG), Hydrogen, Steel, Transport fuels and synthetic diesel.

Coal gasification therefore enables coal to move beyond combustion toward higher-value industrial applications. Globally, hydrogen production today is dominated by fossil fuels ~ around 62 per cent is produced from natural gas; about 18-20 per cent from coal gasification, and the remainder from oil and electrolysis. China has emerged as the world leader in coal gasification and coal-to-chemicals. It produces approximately 20 million tonnes of hydrogen annually from coal and accounts for nearly 60 per cent of global gasifier capacity. China operates large integrated coal-to-methanol,........

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