The Government of India is soon going to bring a new policy for coal gasification based urea production. The government believes that this will reduce the country’s dependence on imported natural gas and will lead to huge savings in foreign exchange. At present, India imports about 25% of the natural gas used for urea production from abroad. Through the new policy, emphasis will be laid on increasing the use of domestic coal, achieving self-sufficiency in urea production and strengthening energy security.
During the roadshow organized by the Coal Ministry, officials said that India currently uses a large amount of natural gas for urea production, of which about 25 percent of the gas has to be imported. In such a situation, coal gasification technology can play an important role in making the country self-reliant.
What is coal gasification based urea technology?
In coal gasification based urea manufacturing, synthetic gas i.e. syngas is prepared by oxidizing raw coal and pet coke at high temperature. This gas contains hydrogen and carbon monoxide. After this, ammonia is made by mixing hydrogen with nitrogen obtained from air and then urea is prepared with the help of carbon dioxide. The biggest feature of this technology is that coal is used instead of natural gas. This will reduce dependence on gas imports and increase the use of the country’s huge coal reserves.
Chemical and Fertilizer Ministry is also working
Coal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt said that the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has been working on the new urea policy for some time. This process has been expedited in view of the current global circumstances and the need for energy security. He said that the Coal Ministry has suggested that coal gasification based urea production should also be included in the new policy.
Private companies are also showing interest
Maharashtra company New Era Cleantech Solution has demanded from the government that coal-based urea projects should be given equal facilities as gas-based plants. The company has also demanded offtake assurance and separate capacity allocation. The company is planning to set up a coal gasification based urea plant of 1.27 MMTPA capacity at Bhadravati in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. The government believes that such projects will not only make the country self-reliant in urea production but will also help in saving foreign exchange.
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