Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approves two equity investment projects in Jharsuguda district of Odisha

Jharsuguda: The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved two equity investment projects, one of which is a coal evaporation project that will be set up in the Lakhanpur area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) in Jharsuguda district of Odisha. The project will be established through a joint venture between Coal India and BHEL at an estimated capital cost of Rs 11,782.05 crore . The plant will produce ammonium nitrate (AN) from coal. Coal India will have an equity infusion of Rs 1,802.56 crore, taking into account the 70:30 debt-equity ratio and 51% equity infusion in the joint venture. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between BHEL and CIL for setting up of coal-to-ammonium nitrate project at Lakhanpur of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL)

The other project approved by the Cabinet is a Rs 13,052.81 crore coal-to-SNG project in Sonpur Bajari area of Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL) in Burdwan district of West Bengal. The project will be established through a joint venture between Coal India and GAIL 1.

The Union Cabinet has also approved an incentive of Rs 8,500 crore for coal commercialisation. The use of coal-freebation technology in large quantities in the country will reduce imports of natural gas, methanol, ammonia, and other essential commodities 1.