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New Delhi , Sept 25

ONGC has signed an MoU with Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd (NLC) for initiating one of the underground coal gasification (UCG) pilots in shallower lignite.

According to an ONGC release, the company is progressing on fast track to tap deep-seated energy resources by establishing two pilots for UCG - one in coal and the other in lignite.

Four sites have been shortlisted for the first pilot - three in Tamil Nadu and one in Rajasthan. The pilot in coal will be established in collaboration with Coal India Ltd , the release said.

To implement the UCG projects at various locations, ONGC has been tying up with local enterprises, the company said.

An MoU was signed with the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) a few days ago.

Apart from MoUs with NLC, more understandings are lined up with CIL, Gujarat Industries Power Corporation Ltd (GIPCL), and Singareni Coal Company Ltd (SCCL), the release added.

These pilot projects are being carried out as per the recommendations of the consultant - Skochinsky Institute (SIM) of Mining of Russia, with whom ONGC entered into an Agreement of Collaboration in November last year.

UCG is a new method to develop coal deposits by directly converting coal to gas underground. Though UCG, as an environment-friendly technology, was initially conceived for deeper coal seams, the pilots worldwide have demonstrated it to be the appropriate technology even for shallower coal seams, and also for abandoned ones with residual coal pillars, the company said.

ONGC, while drilling for oil and gas, has discovered large reserves of coal at depths more than 600 metres. In Gujarat alone, these coal reserves have been estimated to be around 63 billion tonnes in the Mehsana-Ahmedabad block and 60 billion tonnes in the Patan-Tharad block.

The recoverable energy from coal reserves of the Mehsana-Ahmedabad block alone in the form of gas is assessed to be around 15,000 billion cubic metres of natural gas - which is more than 70 times the free gas reserves of ONGC.

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