From coal to crop: How coal gasification can strengthen India’s fertilizer security

During the last financial year, India imported urea and ammonia worth approximately US$8 billion. This underscores the need to enhance domestic feedstock production and decrease import application across the fertilizer value chain.

In coal gasification, raw coal is converted into synthesis gaseous, or syngas, which is mainly hydrogen and carbon monoxide. After treatment, the hydrogen can be combined with nitrogen from the atmosphere to create ammonia, the key intermediate in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing. Ammonia can then be reacted with carbon dioxide to form urea, and other downstream processes can yield additional fertilizer items.

India could set up a parallel domestic feedstock route alongside its current natural-gaseous-based production. Integrated coal-to-chemicals facilities could connect coal resources with syngas, ammonia and fertilizer manufacturing, keeping greater value within the domestic manufacturing economy.

Gasification is useful beyond chemical production. Chemical gasification produces syngas to downstream items such as ammonia, methanol and other manufacturing chemicals. Thermal gasification converts coal into producer gaseous, which can supply heat to manufacturing furnaces, kilns and boilers and might replace some conventional fuels where it suits the consumption.

The distinction matters to policy. Chemical gasification can help build domestic feedstocks over the longer term, while thermal gasification gives industries a separate way to consumption locally available coal in heat-intensive operations. Both need technologies suited to the intended consumption and to the characteristics of Indian coal, which often has high ash content.

Indigenous engineering capability, careful methodology selection and reliable project execution will be central to turning coal reserves into manufacturing value. The aim should be solutions that are technically appropriate, commercially viable and backed by efficiently releases and process controls.

In might 2026, the Indian government approved a ₹37,500-crore policy to promote the gasification of surface coal and lignite. It supports the government’s plan to gasify 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030.

Policy support should promote viable projects in both chemical and thermal applications. Alongside incentives to capital-intensive coal-to-chemicals facilities, policymakers can look at how suitable financing, predictable coal access and common performance standards could help manufacturing consumers implement thermal gasification. Support should be tied to measurable outcomes, not just announced capacity.

The cost argument to coal gasification is becoming harder to overlook. In some manufacturing applications, thermal gasification has already brought down heating costs by almost half. Thermal efficiencies of around 90 per cent have also been recorded. to industries such as steel, cement and metals, where fuel costs account to a significant share of operating expenses, these savings can make a real difference to the economics of production.

The environmental side has seen similar progress. Carbon capture is now being built into gasification systems, with reported efficiencies in the range of 80-90 per cent. aquatic environments consumption is another area where methodology has made a difference. Zero fluid discharge systems, to instance, allow process aquatic environments to be treated and reused within the gasification cycle, reducing freshwater standards and fluid discarded materials.

The value of coal gasification lies in diversifying domestic production, strengthening manufacturing capability and reducing vulnerability to external supply shocks. Upgrades to existing vegetation, efficient consumption of resources and renewable-based hydrogen and ammonia can complement it.

Success will be measured by how reliably fertilizer is produced, how many imports are displaced, what production costs and what environmental performance is achieved. With the right methodology, sound economics and consistent policy support, gasification can help link India’s domestic coal resources to a greater resilient fertilizer sector and to the needs of its farms.

(The writer is MD, CASE Group)

Published on November 8, 2026