Kolkata, 21 June 2026: Hon’ble President Smt. Droupadi Murmu and Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi virtually laid the foundation stone for the coal-to-ammonium nitrate plant at Lakhanpur, Odisha. The project, being developed by BCGCL (Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited) – a joint venture between Coal India Limited and BHEL – will be India’s first commercial coal gasification plant. It entails an investment of approximately ₹25,000 crore and will have an annual production capacity of 6,60,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate; a key input widely used in mining explosives and various industrial applications. Coal for the project will be supplied by our subsidiary, Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL).
Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Hon’ble Union Minister for Coal & Mines; Shri Satish Chandra Dubey, Hon’ble Minister of State for Coal & Mines; Shri Pradeep Purohit, Hon’ble Member of Parliament; Shri Sanoj Kumar Jha, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal, our Chairman, Shri B. Sairam; Director (Business Development), Shri Asheesh Kumar; CVO, Shri Brajesh Kumar Tripathy; CMD, MCL, Shri Uday A. Kaole; and senior officials from Coal India, BHEL, and MCL were present at the plant site in Lakhanpur.
Notably, Coal gasification is one of our flagship diversification initiatives aimed at enhancing value addition from domestic coal resources. The gasification process converts coal into synthesis gas (syngas), which can be used to produce a wide range of value-added products such as methanol, urea, ammonia, ammonium nitrate, synthetic natural gas, and other chemical feedstocks. This has the potential to drive industrial growth, reduce dependence on imported raw materials, and strengthen the country’s energy and economic security, thereby supporting the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
