NTPC Limited is a Public Sector Undertaking under the aegis of Ministry of Power, Govt of India. With an installed capacity of more than 82000 MW, it is the largest power agglomerate in India with a diversified mix of Thermal (Coal & gas), Solar, Hydro, Wind portfolios and further diversifications into energy storage, green hydrogen etc.

In order to secure fuel security for its thermal power plants, it has been allotted with coal mining assets from the Government of India with a combined peak production potential of 91.6 Million Tonnes per annum (assessed through open-pit mining methods).

NTPC extracts coal from 9 mines across Jharkhand, Odisha, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

All the 9 mines of NTPC (listed in the Background section) have been planned to be operated through open-pit mining methods up to a depth ranging from 250m to 300m. However, these coal blocks do have presence of coal reserves beyond a depth of 300m which have not been planned for extraction through open-pit mining methods due to techno-commercial challenges and issues of viability.

For gainful extraction of value from these deep-seated reserves (beyond 250-300 metres of depth), NTPC is looking at Underground Coal Gasification as a possible solution. The known products of value to NTPC, that are extractable from gasification technologies include (but not limited to) products such as Syngas, Ammonium Nitrate and various other Organic Chemicals.

NTPC is looking at technical solutions to implement Underground coal gasification at its coal mining assets for extracting value out of the deep-seated reserves that have not been planned for extraction by Open-pit mining methods.

In the first phase, NTPC is looking at a comprehensive study on the overall feasibility of implementing Underground Coal Gasification at its coal mining sites, covering various aspects such as geological properties, coal characteristics, choice of technology, investment requirement, end-to-end use of products, requirement of infrastructure, logistics etc.

In the second phase, NTPC intends to carry out a pilot scale demonstration of the proposed technology at its selected sites which would subsequently be followed by scaling up to full-scale commercial in the third phase.

Interested parties can receive more information about the mine site properties and lithology by contacting Austmine.

Phase 1 - Submission Period

Companies are invited to send their expression of interest to Austmine by Monday 8 September 2025. The expression of interest will require interested parties to provide details of coal gasification expertise and experience.

The solution submission questions can be viewed here.

A shortlisting process takes place and successful applicants are invited to participate in Phase 2.

Phase 2 - Direct Engagement

Shortlisted applicants will engage directly with NTPC to understand technical requirements of the projects and move towards feasibility study work.

Solution Submission Deadline - Monday 8 September July 2025

Shortlisted Suppliers Notified - Monday 29 September 2025