Chhattisgarh is among 11 States in the country where Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks have been awarded to various Public Sector undertakings/private organisations in four rounds of bidding for exploration in the country. The CBM covers 17,200 sq km (66%) of the total available coal bearing area (26,000 sq km) in 11 States of India.
As on date, 33 CBM blocks have been awarded to various Public Sector Undertakings/private organisations in four rounds of bidding for exploration and exploitation of CBM in 11 States of India — Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
This was stated by Union Minister of State for Power, Coal & New and Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha. The Minister further stated that total prognosticated CBM resource for 33 awarded CBM blocks is about 63.3 trillion cubic feet (1792.43 billion cubic metres), of which so far, 9.9 trillion cubic feet (280.8 billion cubic metres) has been established as Gas-In-Place (GIP) from 8 CBM blocks that have entered development phase.
In order to harness Coal Bed Methane (CBM) potential in the country, the Government of India formulated a policy in 1997 wherein CBM being natural gas is explored and exploited under the provisions of Oil fields (Regulation & Development) Act 1948 and Petroleum and Natural Gas Rules, 1959 and administered by Union Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas.
As an ongoing process, Directorate General of Hydrocarbons carries out studies to shortlist and carve more CBM blocks for auction for the forthcoming CBM rounds in consultation with Central Mine Planning & Design Institute ltd and Ministry of Coal, the Minister said.