Rs.98cr grant for IITH to set up Centre of Excellence
Coal India Limited (CIL) and the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H), are setting up a Centre of Clean Coal Energy and Net Zero (CLEANZ) to develop clean coal technologies and diversification in coal utilization.
Both the entities will synergize their efforts in developing cutting edge technology readiness level (TRL) for sustainable utilization of Indian coal, said the Ministry of Coal, announcing a CIL-IITH MoU signed on 7 March.
The joint initiative is in line with the country’s Net Zero commitments, said the Ministry as it is also keen in developing research capabilities in coal sector and advised to take up research projects relevant to India’s coal and energy sectors.
Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy officiated at the MoU signing by P M Prasad, Chairman, CIL and Prof. B S Murty, Director, IITH in Hyderabad.
CIL’s management has green flagged a grant of Rs.98 crores to IITH for a duration of five years for setting up this Centre of Excellence. It is anticipated that the project will be financially self-sustainable beyond the initial five-year funding received from CIL https://www.worldcoal.com/.
CIL’s Board earlier in July 2024 has given its nod to focus on providing grants to reputed government institutions and research organizations under R&D expenditure. The objective is to enhance research capabilities and establishment of Centres of Excellence.
The current collaborative model is an R&D endeavour under the umbrella of National Centre for Coal and Energy Research (NaCCER). This is an independent R&D unit of CMPDI, the mine development and consultancy arm of CIL https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/.
CLEANZ envisions net zero utilization with special emphasis on low grade and rejected coal. The thematic areas under CLEANZ are enhanced coal bed methane and coal mine methane recovery, carbon capture technologies, coal gasification and syngas utilization, energy efficiency and conservation, artificial intelligence and machine learning among others https://www.iea.org/.
Other salient features are training and assisting CIL officials in tech adoption, skill and capability enhancement, extraction and beneficiation technologies for critical minerals. Fiinews.com
