The Hindu Business Line : RIL, Gujarat Mineral plan jt venture for lignite gasification

Ahmedabad, Feb. 4 Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) are planning to set up a joint venture company to undertake lignite gasification in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The two companies had signed a shareholders’ agreement in November last, wherein RIL and GMDC would have 51 per cent and 49 per cent equity respectively in the joint venture. They have also identified five sites in Gujarat and two in Rajasthan where deep-seated lignite is proposed to be converted into gas, highly-placed sources told Business Line.

“We now need the Government approval to proceed further and form the joint venture which we expect in a month’s time.”

Thereafter, the company would start exploration and drilling to confirm the presence of lignite that could be converted into gas.

The initial outlay for the joint venture would be around Rs 100 crore. Exploration and pilot burns at the seven locations would involve an investment of nearly Rs 400 crore.

The sources further added: “We would also put up mini commercial power projects at some sites to generate nearly 250 MW of power. This joint venture could then enter the capital market through an IPO to generate funds for gasification on a major scale. In addition to this, the two companies are also working on a coal-to-liquid (CTL) project. If we get good quality coal reserves, we would persuade the Centre to earmark some coalfields for CTL.”

The coalfields could mainly be in Puducherry, Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

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