Coal India digs beyond coal into batteries, renewables and critical minerals

State-owned coal mining giant Coal India (NSE: COALINDIA) has an ambitious plan to expand into new areas. According to a government of India note published on September 20, the company is planning to expand its footprint in coal gasification and coal-to-chemicals, thermal and renewable energy and battery storage, critical minerals and even advanced materials and diversified minerals.

At present, Coal India Ltd (CIL) is involved in four coal gasification and coal-to-chemicals projects spanning fertilisers, industrial chemicals and synthetic natural gas (SNG). The coal gasification process involves conversion of coal to synthesis gas, or syngas, which can then be utilised to produce SNG, ammonia, urea, ammonium nitrate, methanol and a number of other chemicals.

Coal India’s two coal gasification projects come in the form of Talcher Fertilizers with its annual urea production capacity of 1.27mn tonnes and Bharat Coal Gasification & Chemicals with capacity to produce 0.66mn tonnes of ammonium nitrate each year.

CIL is also participating in two SNG projects with Coal Gas India Ltd having the capacity to produce 633.6mn normal cubic metres (Nm³) of SNG annually, while the CIL-BPCL Chandrapur coal-to-SNG project is designed to produce an additional 633.6mn Nm³ per year.

On the coal gasification front, CIL is working on a pilot project at the Kasta West Block of Eastern Coalfields. The first phase came online in May last year, while the second phase started in June.

In the power sector meanwhile Coal India is working in-sync with Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) to set up a 2×800 MW brownfield expansion at Chandrapura in the coal-rich eastern Indian state of Jharkhand, through an equal joint venture partnership.

The company is also eyeing a significant presence in the renewable energy space. It has already commissioned about 550 MW of solar capacity.  In addition to this, CIL is now looking at rooftop solar projects as well as ground-mounted and captive solar power projects. Reports suggest company plans to work via two separate models: solar power projects for captive use and commercial renewable-power projects.

Since battery storage is a vital chain in the renewable energy ecosystem, CIL is marking its presence there as well. An 187.5-MW/750 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) project is currently under development for TGGENCO at Choutuppal in the state of Telangana, with a four-hour storage duration, the government said.

Added to this, CIL is developing an 80-MW/320 MWh BESS portfolio across four locations in Odisha with another four-hour duration period planned when finished.

With the rapid growth in industries such as battery storage, electric vehicles, renewable energy, electronics, advanced manufacturing, aerospace and defence, the requirement for critical minerals has also become very important. To capitalise on this opportunity, CIL intends to use its graphite assets in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, as well as rare earth element and rare-metal assets in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. As a result, the company is looking to set up an integrated graphite value chain.

R&D

Coal India is also boosting its research & development expertise. At present, the company funds the CIL Centre of Sustainable Energy at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras with INR879mn ($9.16mn) dedicated to focusing on sustainable materials, mine repurposing and energy transition.

The company also supports CLEANZ at IIT Hyderabad, an INR980mn project with a focus on clean coal technology and low-grade Indian coal.

Furthermore, CIL is expanding its research and innovation programme, with a focus on digital mining, automation, advanced energy technologies and the development of indigenous solutions for the coal sector. Linked to this, the company has set up the CIL Centre for Innovation in Mining at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad with financial support of INR675mn - the centre is working on Mining 4.0 technologies, the Internet of Things (IoT), smart mining systems, immersive technologies and 5G applications.

A separate CII Centre at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad has received INR100mn and focuses on innovation and incubation, including prototyping, virtual reality, simulation and automation technologies.

Looking at the bigger picture, CIL’s wider R&D portfolio is made up of 20 projects with a total outlay of INR2.31bn. The projects cover technologies intended to improve mining efficiency and safety while supporting the company’s transition towards new energy and technology-driven operations. Key initiatives include an underground coal gasification project at Kasta West, the deployment of 5G captive networks across opencast and underground mines, development of bifacial perovskite solar cells and the application of artificial intelligence and geophysical exploration technologies for critical mineral exploration.

To this end, CIL has been consistently upping its R&D spending in recent years. Expenditure increased from INR613mn in FY2023-24 to INR2.46bn in FY2024-25 before declining to INR1.84bn in FY2025-26. It has provisioned an R&D budget of INR2.25bn for FY2026-27. The planned allocation rises to INR3.5bn in FY2027-28, INR4bn in FY2028-29 and INR5bn in FY2029-30.

The government of India has thus outlined a broader technology strategy for Coal India that includes strengthening the National Coal Conservation and Energy Efficiency Rating (NaCCER), expanding the hub-and-spoke model for research and accelerating the movement of technologies from research and development to commercial deployment.

It is a strategy that places greater emphasis on indigenous and future-ready technologies, with coal gasification, advanced materials, battery technologies and other emerging solutions identified as areas with potential to support the sector’s longer-term needs and reduce reliance on imported technologies.