Coal India (CIL) subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal (BCCL) has entered into a Rs 1,880-crore revenue-sharing contract with Prabha Energy for commercial extraction of coal bed methane (CBM).
Prabha Energy will be the CBM developer, having been selected through a global bidding process. CBM will be extracted from Jharia Block- I, a leasehold area of BCCL.
BCCL will put in close to Rs 370 crore towards the cost of the land, while the rest will be met by the CBM developer. CMPDI, CIL’s consultancy arm, will be the principal implementing agency overseeing the project.
“This is an important development and with this, CIL will be stepping into a new era of CBM extraction on its own in its leasehold area,” a senior CIL official said.
Jharia CBM block -1 is spread over around 27 sq km with a resource of around 25 billion cubic metres (bcm). Average production capacity is pegged at 1.3 million metric standard cubic metres a day once commercial operations start.
The project, scheduled in three phases, will include exploration for two years from the signing of the contract, followed by the pilot phase of three years and finally the production phase for thirty years.
CIL is hopeful of the first two phases being completed earlier than scheduled and production commencing sooner than planned. The CBM produced may be used for city gas distribution or distributed to potential users through GAIL’s gas pipeline being laid under the Urja Ganga project.
Removing fugitive methane gas from underground coal mines and using it in profitable and practical ways can enhance safety, mine productivity, increase revenues and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the CIL official said.