The coal gasification scheme applicants for Round 1 now include seven project applications from five companies and PSUs, but none should yet be described as a selected project or recipient of government financial assistance. The Ministry of Coal said on September 8 that the first application round under the ₹37,500-crore Scheme for Promotion of Surface Coal/Lignite Gasification Projects had concluded and moved into evaluation.
Current answer: Adani Enterprises submitted three urea-project applications, Gallantt Ispat proposed Direct Reduced Iron plus syngas, NTPC proposed Synthetic Natural Gas, Shyam Sel & Power proposed syngas, and Talcher Fertilisers proposed urea. These are applications only. Selection, incentive earmarking, Letters of Award, project agreements and milestone-linked payments are later stages.
Who are the coal gasification scheme applicants in Round 1?
| Applicant | Round 1 project application | Current state |
|---|---|---|
| Adani Enterprises | Project 1 — Urea | Application under evaluation |
| Adani Enterprises | Project 2 — Urea | Application under evaluation |
| Adani Enterprises | Project 3 — Urea | Application under evaluation |
| Gallantt Ispat | Direct Reduced Iron + Syngas | Application under evaluation |
| NTPC | Synthetic Natural Gas | Application under evaluation |
| Shyam Sel & Power | Syngas | Application under evaluation |
| Talcher Fertilisers | Urea | Application under evaluation |
The important distinction is that there are seven project applications from five applicants. Adani Enterprises accounts for three separate urea proposals.
Have any Round 1 projects already won the ₹37,500-crore scheme?
No. The ₹37,500 crore figure is the total financial outlay of the scheme. It is not an amount that has already been awarded to the seven Round 1 applications.
The current state is application evaluation. Applicants still have to pass the scheme’s evaluation and selection process before any project can be treated as a selected applicant or have financial assistance earmarked under the RFP.
Stage 1 — Applications received: seven Round 1 project applications are confirmed.
Stage 2 — Evaluation: eligibility and scoring under the Scheme/RFP come next.
Stage 3 — Selection: selected applicants are tentatively scheduled to be declared on October 21, 2026.
Stage 4 — Letter of Award: LoAs are tentatively scheduled for November 4, 2026.
Stage 5 — Project Agreement: the current tentative milestone is January 4, 2027.
Stage 6 — Incentive disbursement: financial assistance is paid later against specified project milestones rather than immediately after application.
How much financial incentive can a gasification project receive?
The Round 1 RFP provides financial assistance of up to 20% of eligible plant-and-machinery cost, subject to the scheme’s conditions and caps. The incentive for an individual project is capped at ₹5,000 crore.
That does not mean every selected project will receive 20% or ₹5,000 crore. The actual amount depends on the eligible project cost, selection outcome, ranking, available scheme allocation and other RFP conditions.
Is the incentive paid as soon as a project is selected?
No. Selection is not the same as payment. The RFP provides for financial incentive to be disbursed in four equal milestone-linked instalments as the project progresses through the required implementation stages.
This makes the project lifecycle materially different from a simple grant announcement: application → evaluation → selection → LoA → project agreement → milestone achievement → incentive disbursement.
When will Round 1 selected applicants be announced?
The current RFP timeline lists October 21, 2026 as the tentative date for declaration of selected applicants. It lists November 4, 2026 as the tentative LoA date and January 4, 2027 as the tentative project-agreement milestone.
These dates should be treated as tentative rather than guaranteed. The Ministry may revise the programme schedule, so the latest official scheme documents remain controlling.
What changed from the earlier September state?
Before Round 1 closed, the number of actual applications was still unresolved. The Ministry had also pushed back on reports suggesting the programme had received no applications while the application period was still open.
The September 8 announcement now establishes the first concrete Round 1 applicant state: seven project applications from five applicants, followed by formal evaluation.
Is Round 2 of the coal gasification scheme open?
The Ministry said Round 2 opened on September 8 and indicated that further application windows are intended at two-month intervals. Round 2 is therefore a separate live application opportunity from the now-closed Round 1 process.
This article tracks the Round 1 applicant, selection and award lifecycle. A materially different Round 2 application/deadline problem should be treated separately only if it develops into a distinct reader-action need.
What remains unknown about the seven projects?
- The final evaluation score for each applicant.
- Which projects will be selected.
- Project-specific financial incentive requested or eventually earmarked.
- Detailed project locations and gasification capacities from the September 8 applicant announcement.
- Final Letters of Award.
- Signed project agreements.
- Project financing, statutory-clearance and construction status.
- Actual incentive disbursement and commissioning dates.
What happens next?
The next major Round 1 checkpoint is the tentative October 21 declaration of selected applicants. That is the point at which the current answer changes from who applied to who passed selection.
This same URL should then be updated for selected applicants, financial-assistance details, LoAs, project agreements and later implementation milestones rather than creating multiple near-duplicate Round 1 pages.
Verification note: ThePulseSignal reviewed the Ministry of Coal’s September 8 Round 1 announcement and the controlling Round 1 RFP/timeline to reconcile the applicant list with the later selection, LoA, project-agreement and incentive-disbursement stages.
