Coal India (CIL) has intensified its Research & Development (R&D) initiatives and plans to invest a total of around Rs.1,900 crore by FY 2030 on R&D activities.

CIL's transformational R&D thrust gathered momentum in FY 2024-25 with establishment of the National Centre for Coal and Energy Research (NaCCER), a hub-and-spoke modelled R&D centre. Since then, the company has shifted its focus from proof-of-concept studies to prototype development, corresponding to Technology Readiness Level (TRL)-4 and above.

'We intend to shift R&D to a higher orbit to drive the company's future growth and technological transformation,' a senior CIL official said.

CIL's R&D expenditure increased four-fold to Rs. 245 Crores in FY 2024-25, from Rs. 61 Crore in FY 2023-24. Department of Public Enterprises mandates annual R&D expenditure averaging one percent of the Profit Before Tax of the preceding three years. For structured innovation framework CIL has also formulated a comprehensive R&D Policy.

Strengthening industry-academia collaboration, CIL has established three Centres of Excellence (CoE) at Premier IITs- Centre of Clean Coal Energy and Net Zero (CLEANZ) Hyderabad, Centre for Sustainable Energy (CSE) Madras and Innovation in Mining (IMiN) at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad.

These centres function as research spokes under NaCCER, undertaking pilot-scale research, prototype development, and technology validation. CIL has committed Rs. 253 crore, to be released in phases, to these CoEs.

At present, 19 R&D projects, with a total outlay of Rs. 225 crore, are being executed by reputed scientific institutions under the direct oversight of NaCCER. In addition, 13 research projects with pilot-scale research, prototype development are underway in CoEs.

The research portfolio spans several strategic areas. CLEANZ is engaged in advanced research on clean coal energy and net-zero technologies, including enhanced coal bed methane recovery, carbon capture, utilisation and storage, mineral beneficiation, recovery of rare earth elements and critical minerals, high-ash coal gasification, and syngas utilisation.

CSE is focusing on sustainable materials, circular economy, mine repurposing, environmental remediation, feasibility assessment of micro modular nuclear reactors, and advanced wastewater treatment technologies. IMiN is dedicated to capacity building through research fellowships and developing solutions to mutually identified mining challenges.

CIL has also forged international collaborations with Ergo Exergy, Canada, for the Underground Coal Gasification Project at ECL; Ericsson, Sweden, for implementation of 5G technologies in the Jhanjra underground mine; and CSIRO, Australia, to advance collaborative research.