Indian coal major Coal India Ltd (CIL) will infuse  in Rs 91,000 crore in various projects, including diversification and mine development, by 2025-26, P M Prasad, chairman and managing director of CIL-arm Central Coalfields Ltd (CCL) said on Thursday.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board on Wednesday recommended the name of Prasad for the post of Chairman and Managing Director of Coal India. "Rs 91,000 crore will be spent on diversification and other projects put together. These will be pumped in till 2025-26,"  He said a sum of Rs 36,000 crore will be spent on coal gasification projects while another Rs 46,000 crore will be pumped-in mining developers cum operators (MDOs) and other contracts.

The remaining amount will be spent on various other projects. CIL has already identified 15 greenfield projects having a total project-rated capacity of 168.58 million tonnes per year for implementation through Mine Developer and Operator mode. (MDO) Out of these 15 projects, Letters of Award have been given to nine projects to be implemented through MDOs.

Another six mining projects are at different stages of implementation. Eleven of the 15 projects are opencast and the remaining four are underground mines. On diversification plans, Prasad said: "Three tenders have already been done for coal gasification project." With comfortable coal availability in the country, the Centre has decided to promote coal gasification in a big way which can yield multiple energy, chemical and petrochemical products, most of which are being imported presently

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