Reliance to Convert Low-Quality Coal into Clean Syngas to Cut LNG Imports

Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is accelerating its transition toward a low-carbon energy pool by unlocking India’s vast, underutilized coal reserves and scaling its bioenergy footprint. During the company’s 49th Annual General Meeting, Chairman Mukesh Ambani detailed a two-pronged strategy involving Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) and Compressed Biogas (CBG) to bolster national energy security.

An important element of RIL's energy roadmap is the advancement of UCG technology, designed to convert India’s low-quality and uneconomic coal reserves into clean syngas. This syngas is intended to serve as a direct substitute for imported LNG, effectively insulating the company and the nation from the volatility of global gas markets. Ambani framed the UCG foray as a business with "immense growth potential" that will contribute directly to India’s quest for energy self-reliance.

Simultaneously, Reliance has emerged as a dominant force in the domestic bioenergy sector, currently contributing over 40% of India’s total CBG production. The company is executing a rapid infrastructure rollout  to have 55 CBG plants operational by the end of FY27, with a projected output of approximately 1,100 tonnes per day. Over the next five years, the company aims to establish integrated CBG hubs to achieve a massive 1 million tonnes of annual capacity.

The bioenergy push is already reflecting in RIL’s fuel retailing operations through Jio-BP. The joint venture with BP has grown its CBG network to 177 sites, with fuel volumes in the CBG and CNG segment growing by 68% year-on-year.