INDUSTRY
Odisha coal gasification plant to meet 35% of India’s ammonium nitrate consumption
- IBJ Bureau
- Jun 21, 2026
The Rs 25,016-crore coal gasification project in Odisha, whose foundation stone was laid recently, is expected to meet nearly 35 per cent of India’s projected ammonium nitrate demand by 2030, industry experts have said.
Once operational, likely by 2028, the plant will reduce imports by about 0.66 million tonnes (mt) annually and generate foreign exchange savings of more than $360 million every year, they add.
Over its operating life, cumulative savings from import substitution could exceed $9 billion, the industry has said.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had jointly laid the foundation stone for the Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals (BCGCL) project in Lakhanpur in Jharsuguda district of Odisha on June 20.
The project, being developed by Bengal Coal and Gasification Company – a joint venture of Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) and Coal India (CIL) – will use indigenous coal gasification technology to convert locally available coal into synthesis gas, which will then be processed into ammonium nitrate, a crucial feedstock for fertiliser and industrial explosives.
“Today’s foundation stone-laying (ceremony) of the BCGCL Coal-to-Ammonium Nitrate Project marks a defining moment in India’s industrial evolution. This is not merely the inauguration of an ammonium nitrate plant; it is the emergence of a new coal-to-chemicals ecosystem that demonstrates how India’s abundant coal resources can be transformed into strategic industrial products,” Balasaheb Darade, the founder and managing director of New Era Cleantech Solution, has said.
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