Nagpur: With Gadchiroli emerging as a steel industry hub, Coal India Limited (CIL) is eyeing the region as a consumption cluster for syngas (synthetic gas), the cleaner option of coal. As a first step towards making green steel, the coal mining PSU has plans to sell syngas. Independent tenders will be issued this month to rope in private parties for extraction of gas for industries on a cluster basis, as Gadchiroli can be one.The plans were discussed during a technical session at Advantage Vidarbha on Sunday. Along with extraction, tenders will be issued for offtake of syngas too. Several steel units coming up in the area are keen to use syngas as fuel. CIL is open to producing syngas through the coal it mines and supplying it to consumers in Gadchiroli. Raigarh, in Odisha, is also seen as a cluster for syngas consumption.“CIL has resources like land and coal, and private players can come up with technology for extracting syngas. The extraction can be done at the consumers’ end for direct offtake,” said managing director of Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemical Limited (BCGCL), Peeyush Kumar.BCGCL, a joint venture of CIL and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), is coming up with a coal gasification project in Odisha. However, the tender will be issued by CIL, said Kumar, who is also originally an officer of the coal company.However, the plans are expected to take at least four years to fructify, sources said. So far, syngas production has not started in the country due to the long gestation process.
