India to Prepare Action Plan for Coal-to-Liquids Industry

www.greencarcongress.com ^ | 01/05/2007 | Staff

[Red Badger]

The Indian government’s Investment Commission has concluded that Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) is feasible in India and recommended to the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, that it should become an integral part of India’s strategy for oil security.

The Prime Minister has decided to set up an Inter-Ministerial Group within the Planning Commission to further examine the proposal and recommend a timebound action plan.

In its presentation, the Investment Commission noted that India will need to import more than 90% of its oil in the future, and that new domestic discoveries of oil and gas are not expected to alter that figure substantially.

The Investment Commission concluded that four to five major CTL projects could have the effect of essentially doubling domestic proven oil reserves. Although synthetic diesel fuel would be the primary output, the projects would also produce naptha and LPG.

The Commission also concluded that India’s low-grade coal is not a limitation. The Commission also stated that partnership with the government was necessary.

The Government of India established the Investment Commission in December 2004 to enhance and facilitate investment in India. The Commission makes recommendations to the Government of India on policies and procedures to facilitate investment, recommends projects and investment proposals that should be fast tracked/mentored and promotes India as an investment destination.

[Red Badger]

They "GET IT"......Now where are ours?.........

Rest In Peace, old friend, your work is finished.......

If you want on or off the DIESEL "KnOcK" LIST just FReepmail me........

This is a fairly HIGH VOLUME ping list on some days......

[Red Badger]

KnOcK!.......

[Zhang Fei]

Let me be the first to thank the Indian government for its assistance - via this expensive boondoggle - in helping to drive oil prices lower. The American motorist will forever be grateful (that's assuming he ever figures it out, of course). I favor all such initiatives to drive down foreign demand for oil, as long as Uncle Sam isn't paying for it.

[dennisw]

China has lots of caol...how much does India have?

[dennisw]

Coal mining in India dates back to the 18th century, however the regulatory framework for this industry was conceived in 1923. In 1972-73, the Indian government nationalised the coal industry, primarily to develop the sector, since it was considered of strategic importance for rapid industrial development. Coal India Ltd (CIL) was incorporated as a holding company for seven coal producing subsidiaries and a pllanning and design focussed institute. It is engaged in mining from a total of 495 working coal mines which account for nearly 88 percent of total production.

Coal Industry highlights:

• India is the third largest producer of coal in the world.
• Coal is one of the primary sources of energy, accounting for about 67% of the total energy consumption in the country.
• India has some of the largest reserves of coal in the world (approx. 197 billion tonnes.).
• Coal deposits in India occur mostly in thick seams and at shallow depths. Noncoking coal reserves aggregate 172.1 billion tonnes (85 per cent) while coking coal reserves are 29.8 billion tonnes (the remaining 15 per cent).
• Indian coal has high ash content (15-45%) and low calorific value.
• With the present rate of around 0.8 million tons average daily coal extraction in the country, the reserves are likely to last over a 100 years.
• The energy derived from coal in India is about twice that of energy derived from oil, as against the world, where energy derived from coal is about 30% lower than energy derived from oil.
• As of 2003, India has 19 coal washeries (total capacity:27.2 million tonnes per annum) of which 15 are owned by CIL.
• The use of beneficiated coal has gained acceptance in steel plants and power plants located at a distance from the pithead.

Energy and Environment
27 November 2006, Forbes magazine

	China	India
Recoverable Coal Reserves	126,214.7 million short tons	101,903.2 million short tons
Coal Production	2,156.4 million short tons	403.1 million short tons
Coal Consumption	2,062.4 million short tons	430.6 million short tons

Production
India has huge untapped potential for underground mining with extractable reserves upto a depth of 600 metres. Currently mining is done predominantly by open cast methods to exploit the 64 billion tonnes of proven reserves situated within a depth of 300 metres. Lower operating and production costs, greater percentage recovery and a higher output per manshift compared with underground mining are some of the advantages presently associated with open cast mining in India.

External trade
Presently, India is not a major exporter of coal and essentially caters to the demands of neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. However, there are no restrictions on coal exports under the existing Export-Import Policy of India. India imports small quantities of low ash-conten coal principally for use by steel plants, which blend it with Indian coal. Import duties are low and are expected to be lowered further.

A look into the future
India's coal demand is expected to increase manifold within the next 5 to 10 years due to the completion of on-going coa;-based power projects, and demand from metallurgical and other industries. Demand for coal has been rising at an annual rate of 6 per cent since 1992-93 and CIL and its subsidiaries will be unable to meet the projected demand alone. The investment needed to bridge the gap----400 million tonnes, between the level of production in the public sector (290 million tonnes in 1995-96) and the projected demand of 690 million tonnes (2009-10)----is estimated to be US$ 18 billion. The public sector corporations----are expected to increase their production by about 250 million tonnes by 2009-10, subject to their making an additional investment of US$ 8-10 billion. The balance requirement of 150 million tonnes will have to be met by imports in the short run and by new investments in the long run.

With the advent of the economic reforms, government controls regarding pricing and distribution have been relaxed and a new coal policy permitting private sector participation in commercial coal mining, has been announced.

[Zhang Fei]

China has lots of caol...how much does India have?

My point is that it's a boondoggle. The Indians do it and the Chinese do it. These boondoggles are going to make some lucky crony capitalists very, very rich. It's a very, very subtle form of corruption - raise energy costs for everyone in the country, and make some private businessmen very rich either by (1) subsidizing their plants, (2) requiring everyone in the country to buy from them via fuel content requirements or (3) assessing tariffs on imported fuel, thus making the processed fuel price-competitive.

[CPT Clay]

If India can do it why cant we?

[CPT Clay]

Thanks for the Facts; Free Republic is the greatest.

[Diggadave]

The point in India & China is that the state subsidises the cost of oil anyway. All that money spent buying oil at world market rates and subsidising it for domestic consumption, creates artificial consumption and holds down living costs, which make these countries artificially attractive to industry, and drives up world demand / prices.

If India & China spend more money on producing synthetic fuels locally, it will raise their costs to a point that reduces local demand. No bad thing!

Another thing about boondoggles that is rarely appreciated is that all that money is spent locally, creating jobs and tax revenue. As they said with the space programme: "Man went to moon, but every cent was spent on Earth!"

[MunnaP]

If the oil stays at $60 a barrel, it might not seem so expensive. Every one made the same arguement that you are making when Brazil started on their ethanol program..Now Brazil does not import any oil from Gulf...
India can also emulate that success....Depending on the Arab supply is not a good strategy...

[MunnaP]

Coal to liquid is a very old technology...The germans were using it in the second world war..I donot know how costly it would be...If you have any data on the costing of coal to liquid industry..please post...