Coal India Ltd. (CIL) has decided to alter its memorandum of association to get into the business of producing fertilizers and chemicals using coal gas.
The amendment will allow CIL to produce, store, distribute, sell, import and export gas and other by-products from coal-gasification, and use them to produce ammonium nitrate and fertilizers. The amendment also allows it to install and operate such plant here and abroad.
The CIL board recently approved the proposal. CIL has decided to seek shareholders’ nod on this issue through a postal ballot.
The company said that Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilisers had signed a memorandum of understanding with GAIL (India) for jointly exploring the potential use of gas produced from the surface coal gas project in the fertilizer industry. GAIL had approached CIL for co-operating in the studies required and the project development for surface coal-gasification in coal-bearing States in India, including the area in and around Talcher in Odisha.
This development is linked to the move to revive the Talcher unit of the Fertiliser Corporation of India, which has been awarded to a consortium of GAIL, RCF and CIL. It is envisaged that a new urea-ammonium nitrate project would be set up at the site of the defunct fertilizer plant of FCI at Talcher.
There would be two joint ventures — one for coal gasification and gas purification with GAIL and the other for setting up a downstream fertilizer-cum-ammonium nitrate unit.
