Unperturbed by Pandemic, India to Get First Coal Gasification Fertilizer Plant

Despite operational hurdles posed by the Covid-19 Pandemic, the commissioning of India’s first coal gasification-based fertiliser plant at Talcher in Angul district of Odisha is on schedule and will get fully completed by year 2023, as per the official website.

The plant is being set up on over 900-acre land and will consist of a coal gasification unit, an Ammonia plant and a Urea manufacturing plant. China-based Wuhan Engineering Company Ltd. is the sole technology provider of the project.  While the Ammonia plant has a capacity of 2200 tonnes per day, the Urea plant has a capacity of 3850 tonnes per day. Apart from these facilities, the plant also consists of a coal-based captive power plant. It will also be capable of producing 100 tonne per day of Sulphur flakes as a by-product which can be sold to the domestic market.

The facility also can blend up to 25 per cent pet-coke to handle high ash content in coal and will produce 2.38 million metric tonne cubic metres per day of synthesis gas equivalent to Natural Gas from coal.

Once the facility gets operationalised, it will have an output of 1.27 million tonnes per annum of ‘Neem’ coated prilled Urea, using indigenous coal and pet coke raw materials.

The plant, which is promoted by Talcher Fertilisers Ltd (TFL), a joint venture between GAIL India Ltd., Coal India Ltd., Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers Ltd. and Fertiliser Corporation of India Ltd., is expected to turn operational by September 2023. Union Minister of coal, Pralhad Joshi also commented on the current condition of the plant and said, “Covid situation may have delayed the execution of the project but it has been fast-tracked to compensate the delay so that the project meets the deadline.

When commissioned, TFL along with other four revival projects at Ramagundam, Gorakhpur, Barauni and Sindri will be able to realise the vision of the Government of India to achieve self-sufficiency in Urea production”. PNG and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also assured the full support from the ministry and asked them to accelerate the project.

Backed by an anticipated investment of around INR 3,277 crores with debt-equity ratio of 72:28, this project will generate employment for up to 14,000 people.

As per ChemAnalyst, the new plant will benefit the country in manifolds. India currently imports 50 to 70 lakh tonnes of Urea every year. This project will help India to reduce its import dependency and the environment-friendliness of the project will help meet its COP-21 Paris agreement commitments.