402 Jul-Aug 2026
10 June 2026
L&T, BCGCL and Casale advance India’s first coal to nitrates complex
Written by Natalie Noor-Drugan
L&T Energy Hydrocarbon Onshore has won a “significant” EPC contract from Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Ltd (BCGCL) for a coal to ammonium nitrate complex in Odisha, India, with Casale now confirming its role as ammonia technology provider on the same project. L&T will deliver the lump sum turnkey Package 3 ammonia synthesis unit, while Casale says it will supply technology and proprietary equipment for a 920 t/d ammonia synthesis loop at the heart of what it describes as India’s first coal gasification based nitrates complex.
Coal based ammonia at the core of a new value chain
According to L&T’s press release, the ammonia plant will provide clean syngas based ammonia as feedstock for downstream nitric acid and ammonium nitrate units, ensuring “operational efficiency, process reliability and seamless integration across the plant.” L&T’s scope runs from process licence and basic design through detailed engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and performance guarantee runs, with single point responsibility for the ammonia synthesis unit and associated facilities. Casale says the project is being developed on an L EPC basis by L&T and BCGCL, and that its N LOOP™ ammonia synthesis technology will supply the essential building block for nitric acid and ammonium nitrate production in the integrated coal to chemicals chain.
Once on stream, the coal to chemicals complex is intended to produce around 2,000 t/d of ammonium nitrate, primarily serving mining, infrastructure and other industrial users rather than the agricultural urea market. That positions the project squarely in the industrial explosives and heavy industry value chain, even though it still adds to India’s wider nitrogen processing base.
Strategic push on domestic nitrogen capacity
L&T frames gasification based downstream chemical infrastructure as central to India’s self reliance agenda and says the order reinforces its role as an EPC partner for “technologically complex and nationally important projects.” Casale similarly stresses the project’s strategic dimension, pointing to strong government backing and presenting the complex as part of a broader effort to maximise the value of domestic coal resources while securing local supplies of ammonium nitrate. For engineers and project developers, the Odisha scheme underlines India’s willingness to use coal gasification not just for power, but as a route into integrated ammonia and nitrates capacity, with international technology providers embedded in the design.
