Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy hosted a live roadshow in Hyderabad on Thursday, June 11, 2026, to promote Surface Coal and Lignite Gasification technology, signalling a fresh push by the Ministry of Coal to advance one of India's key energy-transition priorities.

Context

The roadshow, streamed live on the Ministry's official channels, brought together stakeholders from the coal, chemicals and fertilizer sectors to highlight the commercial and strategic potential of converting domestic coal and lignite reserves into syngas. Hyderabad, as the capital of Telangana — a state with significant lignite deposits in its vicinity — provides a fitting regional venue for such outreach. Kishan Reddy also serves as BJP Telangana state president, giving the event both a policy and a regional dimension.

Surface Coal Gasification involves thermochemical conversion of coal or lignite into a synthetic gas mixture, which can then be used as feedstock for fertilizers, chemicals and transport fuels, reducing dependence on imported natural gas and petroleum derivatives.

Policy Backdrop

The policy groundwork for coal gasification was laid in the Union Budget of February 2020, which announced dedicated measures to promote the technology for chemicals production and import substitution. Building on that, the Ministry of Coal in 2021 set a national target of gasifying 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030 under the Atmanirbhar Bharat framework.

India's large domestic coal reserves — the country is among the world's top coal producers — make gasification an attractive lever for energy security. By converting coal into syngas domestically, India aims to cut costly imports of natural gas and petrochemical feedstock, easing pressure on the current account.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of a scaled-up gasification programme span multiple industries: coal producers gain new revenue streams from reserves that may not be suitable for conventional combustion; the fertilizer sector stands to receive domestically produced feedstock in place of imported urea and ammonia inputs; and chemical manufacturers could access syngas-derived methanol and other intermediates at competitive prices.

State-level roadshows of this kind are designed to attract investment commitments from private players and public-sector enterprises alike, and to familiarise regional industry with the technology's commercial viability. Telangana's industrial base and its proximity to lignite-bearing geology in southern India make it a strategically important audience for such outreach.

What's Next

The Hyderabad roadshow is part of a broader series of regional engagements the Ministry of Coal has been conducting to build an investor pipeline for gasification projects ahead of the 2030 capacity target. Observers will watch for follow-up investment commitments, expressions of interest for pilot projects, or policy announcements that may emerge from the event.

With India's energy transition demands intensifying and import bills remaining a fiscal concern, the momentum behind coal and lignite gasification is likely to grow — making ministerial-level advocacy events like the Hyderabad roadshow an early indicator of how aggressively the government intends to push the technology into commercial deployment in the near term.