Reliance Industries has proposed an underground coal gasification complex in Eluru district of Andhra Pradesh, structured across two phases with a capital plan of about Rs 43,000 crore and a 30-year horizon, according to a government document and people familiar with the proposal.
The opening phase, of roughly Rs 3,000 crore, is limited to proving the resource: seismic surveys, exploration and a pilot unit to test whether the coal can be gasified commercially. Work on the second phase, of about Rs 40,000 crore, would begin only once that pilot is done, a detailed project report is filed and clearances are in hand.
The document puts the project's lifetime investment potential at as much as Rs 2.70 lakh crore across three decades. Employment is projected at 5,000 direct roles and 35,000 indirect ones.
The state economic development board will be the single-window facilitator, coordinating land, water and power with state departments and pursuing approvals with central ministries.
Reliance was awarded the Chintalapudi Sector A1 and Recherla blocks in Eluru district by the Union coal ministry. Its proposal to the state government, reported in August, puts the two blocks at an estimated 3,130 million tonnes of coal lying deeper than 600 metres; underground gasification would turn those deep seams into syngas without mining the coal.
Reliance has not commented on the figures. No memorandum of understanding has been signed with the state government, and the company did not respond to a request for comment, according to reports.
The plan sits alongside a wave of pledges at the 31st CII Partnership Summit in Visakhapatnam on November 12 and 13, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and the state government. Summit organisers expect commitments of up to Rs 11 lakh crore and 2.5 lakh jobs.
Kia India will put in USD 2 billion on a second plant in the state, lifting annual capacity to 6.30 lakh vehicles and adding about 12,000 jobs, Managing Director and CEO Gwanggu Lee told the summit. The Korean carmaker already builds at Anantapur, where its 2017 plant can turn out 4.30 lakh units a year. Lee gave no timeline.
ReNew has agreed in principle to invest Rs 29,500 crore, split as Rs 12,500 crore for a 2 GW pumped storage plant and Rs 17,000 crore for green ammonia and e-fuel production. Chairman and CEO Sumant Sinha made the commitment in a meeting with IT and Electronics Minister Nara Lokesh on the summit sidelines.
GMR Group, which runs the airport, is building a 500-acre aviation and aerospace cluster around it, Chairman G M Rao said, forecasting that Visakhapatnam would become the "Bombay of the East".
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said the state would legislate an investment protection law to guard investors against regime change and political vendetta, and asked Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the summit chair, to push for a matching central law. The state Bill would go to the Centre after passing the Assembly, Naidu said.
(Compiled from PTI and media reports with the help of our in-house AI tools, and edited by our desk)