The ongoing war in West Asia has plunged the world into a deep energy crisis. In India, the availability of domestic fuel, LPG, has been affected by the disruption of supplies from the Persian Gulf. The global energy crisis is reminiscent of the oil shock of 1973, when members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cut oil production and cut exports to protest US support for Israel in the Yom Kippur War. India responded by exploring alternative energy sources, the Bombay High offshore oil fields, and experimenting with new technologies.
One technological option that found a second life in this way was coal gasification.
The idea of using gasified coal to meet some of India’s fuel needs first emerged in 1955, when Syed Husain Zaheer, Director of the Regional Research Laboratory Hyderabad (RRLH) – now CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) – and later Director General of CSIR, presented a plan for a nationwide gas grid to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. The plan envisaged the use of heating gas produced from the gasification of coal and its delivery through pipelines for domestic and industrial use. Zaheer believed that high calorific fuel gas could be produced by completely gasifying non-sintering fuels such as shale coal, lignite and bituminous coal, all found in India.
“City Gas Supply Scheme”
The technology involved gasifying coal using high pressure to produce hydrocarbons and using oxygen to maintain high thermal efficiency. It started by converting the sulfur present in the coal into hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and small amounts of carbonyl sulfide (COS). Sulfur compounds are then removed from the gas stream and the separated acid gas is further processed to obtain elemental sulfur.
The gas was further purified using a water wash to remove any remaining particles.
In the 1940s, coal gasification was used on a commercial scale to provide lamp gas for street lighting in Europe and the US. However, the techno-economic feasibility of this concept has not yet been established for Indian coal.
To begin with, Zaheer proposed a “City Gas Supply Scheme” for Hyderabad based on gasifying the coal found in the Singareni mines and piping it to the city. If a gasification plant is set up at Kothagud, gas could be supplied not only to Hyderabad but also to several cities along the 290-km route, as per the plan. Based on surveys of fuel consumption, population and demand estimates, family incomes, and fuel demand trends, Zaheer designed a 7.5 million cubic feet pressurized gasification facility and proposed that the gas pipeline could be laid along the railway line to facilitate maintenance and inspections.
A hard road
Pilot studies were needed to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology, which in turn required funding. Zaheer’s idea found no takers in the central government or the CSIR. On the energy front, policy at the time focused on finding oil reserves and developing nuclear power, in addition to harnessing hydropower from large dams.
In 1961, therefore, Zaheer urged Nehru to take a political decision to set up several gasification plants for gasification of coal in selected coal belts and connect them with a nationwide network. Nehru liked the plan and remarked that it was “a modern and more economical method which will bring enormous relief to the railways”. However, the Ministry of Steel, Mines and Fuel pointed out the “impracticability of the long-distance gas transport plan”. The Planning Commission, Coal Board and CSIR also remained cool to the proposal and were reluctant to fund a pilot plant to test coal gasification.
When Nehru appointed Zaheer as Director General of CSIR in 1962, Zaheer got an opportunity to implement his idea of developing a pilot plant at RRLH. But it wasn’t easy because the plan required importing equipment. The wars of 1962 and 1965 did not help, delaying the purchase of machinery from Germany, and massive cost overruns occurred due to the devaluation of the rupee.
Coal Gasification Pilot Plant set up by Regional Research Laboratory, Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: Hindu Archives
The project stalled once Zaheer’s term ended in 1966. His successor Atma Ram formed a committee to review the project. The panel issued an adverse report stating that “it would not be appropriate to establish and operate the plant in the manner proposed by RRLH” and suggested that the imported equipment be scrapped.
Back then, there was strong opposition to CSIR labs setting up pilot plants to demonstrate the technologies they had developed. This was despite RRLH already operating a successful semi-commercial pilot plant for another coal technology: low-temperature carbonization. National Chemicals Laboratory in Pune and Indian Institute of Petroleum in Dehradun have also built pilot plants under the RRLH model.
“If only we’d listen…”
After several reviews and controversies, the coal gasification project at RRLH got the nod in 1972 and the crates of imported machinery were opened seven years after they landed in Hyderabad. The project also received an unexpected boost: the oil shock of October 1973. The shortage of petroleum products sent the government searching for alternative fuels, and it recognized that “in terms of the country’s long-term energy requirements, the installation of small to medium-sized coal gasification plants for gas production should be considered”.
“It is now absolutely clear that a coal-based energy strategy is the only realistic course for us,” announced Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, acknowledging the mistakes of the past. In her inaugural speech at the session of the Indian Science Congress in Bhubaneswar in January 1977, she admitted: “Had we heeded the plea of Dr. Husain Zaheer in the early 1960s and based our chemical policy not only on oil but on abundant coal reserves, we would have weathered the oil crisis with much less strain.
However, by the time RRLH built a coal gasification pilot plant, the technology had moved to the next level. The pilot plant was used as a test facility for integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) research, in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), which commissioned the first such plant in 1985. Unlike coal gasification for lamp gas production, the IGCC combined coal gasification with electricity generation. The synthesis gas produced by coal gasification was used to operate a power plant producing electricity. Gas turbines were used to generate electricity, and excess heat was removed to steam-powered turbines.
The second wind
Although India started early in fuel research and development with national laboratories engaged in coal, petroleum and geophysics research, funding was suboptimal and the projects lacked the necessary industrial linkages. Policymakers and competing interests have failed to understand the need for long-term research in this area.
Interest in clean coal technologies has revived as climate action has intensified. India’s National Coal Gasification Mission, launched in 2021, aims to gasify 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030. “The adoption of gasification technology in India will revolutionize the coal sector and reduce dependence on imports of natural gas, methanol, ammonia and other essential products,” a government statement said.
A massive investment of Rs 85,000 crore has been earmarked for the mission. Coal India Limited and BHEL also set up a new company, Bharat Coal Gasification & Chemicals Limited, in 2024 to work on clean coal technologies.
Dinesh C. Sharma is a journalist and writer from New Delhi and has written books on India’s science and technology journey after 1947. He is currently working on a biography of Syed Husain Zaheer.
Published – 19 March 2026 07:30 IST
