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“ONGC included UGC initiative in its eleventh plan. A MEL was sought for coal blocks in Bhestan basin near Surat three years back after completing initial surveys. However, coal ministry has not given any approval till now,” said an official at ONGC.
On November 3, 2005, Subir Raha — the then chairman of ONGC — signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Coal India (CIL) for actively pursuing UCG. Shashi Kumar was the chairman of CIL during those days.
ONGC also joined hands with Russia’s Skochinsky Institute of Mining (SIM) for technology transfer. This was done under the initiative of former petroleum minister Mani Shankar Aiyar. Both ONGC and Coal India had decided to have 50:50 participating interest for setting up of UCG platforms. According to preliminary estimates, single UCG station would cost between Rs 75 crore and Rs 100 crore. “Licensing for coal blocks come under the purview of coal ministry and oil ministry cannot play any role in this,” said a senior official at oil regulator Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).
However, ministries of coal and oil are working to formulate a policy for simultaneous drilling of coal and natural gas from the same block. The issue is at a nascent stage and under discussion, he said, adding, that UCG is not related to the policy under discussion.
C Balakrishnan, secretary at coal ministry, couldn’t be reached for his comments even after repeated attempts.
In UCG procedure, oxygen and steam is injected into coal seams that ignites coal. This converts solid coal into a mix of gases, liquids and ash. The gas can be taken out from coal seams, which comprises of carbon monoxide, hydrogen and methane among others. The natural gas that comes out can be used for power generation as wells as feed stock for petrochemical industry.
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