Padma Vibhushan Dr V K Saraswat, Member of NITI Aayog, on Sunday said, “Indian coal typically contains ash content ranging from about 25 to 45 percent, whereas coal from many other countries has comparatively lower ash content. Therefore, to operate coal gasification projects at lower cost and with high efficiency over a long period, it is extremely important to select gasification technology that is suitable for the specific characteristics of Indian coal.” He was delivering the keynote address at a special session on coal gasification held as part of the Advantage Vidarbha 2026 organised by Association for Industrial Development (AID).

 

The session was attended by Rupinder Brar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal; Piyush Kumar, Managing Director, BCGCL; Balasaheb Darade, Chief Managing Director, New Era Cleantech Solutions Pvt Ltd; and Prof. S Dasappa, researcher at the Indian Institute of Science. Prof. Dr Nikhil Sardesai coordinated the session. Elaborating further on coal and coal gasification in India, Dr Saraswat said, “Today, through successful pilot trials based on indigenous technologies, India has conclusively demonstrated its capability to gasify coal.” Rupinder Brar stated, “The Government of India has declared coal gasification as a mission. Under this mission, projects include the Coal India– BHEL Lakhanpur project, Coal India–GAIL Sonepur Bazari project, Coal India–SAIL Durgapur project, Jindal Steel and Power Ltd’s Angul project, New Era Cleantech Solutions project, Greta Energy and Metals Pvt Ltd project, and a project by WCL.”