India holds vast reserves—about 378.2 billion tonnes—spread from Talcher to Jharia. These basins provide a buffer against global shocks and underpin a mining system that has scaled. Output reached 1,047.7 million tonnes in 2024-25, demonstrating that logistics, evacuation, and blending capabilities are now on par with demand growth. Rather than treating coal solely as a climate liability, policy is reframing it as a strategic industrial feedstock.
Fertilizer is the weak link in India’s food system. Urea remains roughly 20% imported; DAP depends 50–60% on foreign supply; MOP is fully imported. A production gap of nearly 15 million tonnes persists. Nutrient use efficiency is only 35–40%, with losses to air and water. The subsidy bill was `1.88 lakh crore in 2023–24—about 4% of the Union budget. This has turned fertilizer from an agronomic issue into a fiscal and sovereign risk.
Coal-to-fertilizer can rebalance that equation. Gasification converts coal into synthesis gas (syngas), which can be catalytically upgraded into ammonia and then urea, anchoring domestic supply and moderating subsidy volatility. Locating plants near pitheads reduces delivered cost and exposure to freight rates and currency swings. With long-term offtake linked to nutrient balance targets, pricing can protect both farmers and the exchequer.
India’s coal is ash-heavy, which historically made conventional gasification unreliable. Transport Integrated Gasification (TRIG), developed for low-grade, high-ash coals, addresses that constraint. TRIG removes ash as a dry solid, cutting clogs and unplanned shutdowns while enabling stable syngas quality. The same platform can route output to methanol, chemicals, or cleaner power, improving asset utilization and lowering risk.
Policy momentum is visible. New Delhi plans to invest Rs 4 trillion over the next decade to gasify 100 million tonnes a year—among the world’s largest industrial transitions. For India, the prize is Atmanirbhar Bharat: Make in India manufacturing, a steadier food-security backbone, and high-quality jobs in mining, process engineering, and operations. Environmental performance must tighten in parallel: carbon capture on ammonia loops, co-gasifying biomass for lower net emissions, sulfur capture, and productive ash utilization in cement and bricks, alongside water recycling and continuous monitoring to meet rising standards. Transparent carbon accounting, rigorous water balances, and independent audits can keep projects bankable, competitive, and publicly credible over time, nationwide.
The U.S.-India partnership can accelerate execution. U.S. firms can license TRIG, co-invest in demonstration units, and support training, controls, and reliability engineering. India can provide permitting clarity, viability-gap support, and secure offtake to bank projects. Joint standards on syngas quality, safety, and emissions will shorten timelines. A staged approach—pilot trains, cluster scale hubs, then integrated coal chemicals complexes—can prove feasibility while managing risk.
If India turns coal from a narrow power fuel into a flexible chemical feedstock, fertilizer insecurity eases, volatility falls, and farmer outcomes improve. With disciplined technology, credible carbon management, and a pragmatic U.S.-India compact, black gold can underwrite greener fields and a sturdier economy.
(Dr. Rana is Fertilizer and Plant Nutrition Expert, Consultant with CIMMYT, IRRI, ICRISAT. Dr. Padma is a Bioenergy Expert. She is Ph.D., Bioenergy (Process Technology), University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Views expressed here are of the writers')