13 cos in race for Rajasthan State Petro's underground coal gasification projects

Kolkata, Aug. 14::::::::Rajasthan State Petroleum Corporation Ltd (RSPCL) — a wholly-owned subsidiary
of the state-owned Rajasthan State Mines and Minerals Ltd — has received expression of interests (EoI)
from 13 companies for underground coal gasification (UCG) programmes in the lignite deposits of
Barmer-Sanchore and Bikaner-Nagpur basins in western Rajasthan.

UCG projects produce syn-gas (a mixture of various amounts of carbon-dioxide and hydrogen) having
lower energy density than natural gas that is often used as fuel. The gas may also be used as an
intermediate for producing synthetic petroleum. According to a company official, RSPCL will form a joint
venture with two-three selected bidders and seek lignite blocks from the Centre for undertaking UCG
projects in the 1,100 sq km area in two basins. The official said that among the prominent bidders are:
Adani Power, Tata Power, Essar, Shiv-Vani, Abhijeet group, JSW Energy and Simon India Ltd (a wholly-
owned project management subsidiary of Zuari Industries of the K K Birla group).

Essar has interest across the energy vertical. Shiv-Vani is mostly into drilling services. Abhijeet group has
interests in metals and power sector. Adani, Tata Power and JSW Energy are major players in power
generation. “All the 13 participants will now be asked to prove their technical eligibility in undertaking
such projects. Based on technical expertise, we will shortlist two-three bidders to form joint ventures,”
the RSPCL official told Business Line.

The PSU issued the tender seeking EoIs for UCG on June 12. Though initially the tender was scheduled to
be closed on July 12, RSPCL extended the date to August 12. Underground coal gasification is considered
as an uncharted territory in India. In 2004, oil and gas major ONGC mooted a UCG programme with
technical support from the Stochinsky Institute of Russia in the coal-rich eastern region of the country.
The company had entered into an MoU with Coal India Ltd for the project. In 2005, ONGC proposed a
pilot UCG project in lignite-rich Tamil Nadu in collaboration with Neyveli Lignite Corporation. However,
since then ONGC has not announced any progress in the projects.

Source …….….Pratim Ranjan Bose.from the pages of THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE NEWSPAPER

Gail India Ltd : Gail ventures into coal gasification in China

State-run Gail India Ltd. said Monday the company had decided to venture into coal gasification
activities in China with plans to set up a petrochemical plant in that country.

The company plans to invest in a coal-to methanol-to petrochemical plant in Shaanxi province of
China, said a Gail India statement issued to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Gail India will enter into an agreement with Shaanxi Huashan Chemical Industry group to carry
out a feasibility study for setting up a coal-gasification based petrochemical plant for production
of polyolefins and other products.

The two companies will subsequently consider setting up a joint venture for implementation of
the proposed project and a distribution and marketing network in China.

Shaanxi Huashan Chemical is already operating a fertiliser plant based on old coal gasification
technology and is willing to adopt the modern Shell coal gasification technology to upgrade their
plant.

Abundant coal at competitive price is available in Shaanxi province. The region is also endowed
with large deposits of oil and gas reserves, said the Gail statement.

Sinopec, an oil and gas major in China, has agreed to develop a cooperation framework with Gail
India for coal gasification projects, apart from gas transmission and distribution business.