Shri Kariya Munda,
Minister of Coal has said that the signing of two contracts
for exploration and production of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) between
Government of India and two Public Sector Enterprises; Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) and Coal India Limited
(CIL) would provide synergy which would fuel economic growth.
The CBM is expected to supplement the conventional sources of
natural gas and would help in bridging the domestic supply gap.
Speaking on
the occasion of signing of contracts for the Coal Bed Methane
(CBM) Blocks with ONGC and CIL here today Shri Kariya Munda
said that earlier Government had signed 6 contracts for exploration
and production of CBM including 5 contracts under the first
round of CBM. He said CIL has also taken up a CBM project with
financial assistance from United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and Global Environment Fund (GEF) with the main purpose
to provide and disseminate information and data on CBM and replication
of best CBM technologies in the country. Emission of methane
during coal mining is the main reason for underground explosion
in the coal mines and due to proposed commercial production
of CBM from the coal bed, the safety hazards would reduce significantly,
he added.
