Coal India Limited (CIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) recently signed a joint venture agreement (JVA)  for setting up an ammonium nitrate plant through surface coal gasification (SCG) technology.

The plant to come up in Lakhanpur area of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, Odisha is planned to produce 2000 tons of ammonium nitrate per day initially, stated a release. 

The annual production is slated at 6.60 Lakh tons which requires 1.3 million tonnes (mts) of coal. The coal will be supplied by CIL while BHEL will use indigenously developed pressurized fluidized bed gasification (PFBG) technology.

According to the government, ammonium nitrate is a major ingredient in manufacturing of bulk explosives which CIL uses in large quantities in its open cast mining operations, a major source of its coal production. 

The upcoming plant as backward integration would help in securing the raw materials, reducing import dependency of ammonium nitrate and promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan.

Coal Secretary, Mr. Amrit Lal Meena, said that with the commitment of CIL and BHEL, this project will be a role model.