Coalbed Methane in India

Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh was formerly a scientist at the CSIR-Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, where he headed the Methane Emission and Degasification Division for almost two decades. He was the Principal Investigator tasked with determining the fugitive methane emissions from Indian coal mining activities for the Ministry of Environment and Forests & Climate Change, Government of India and was involved in the preparation of India's Initial and Second National Communications to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). He is one of the lead authors of the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Fugitive Emission Section, Energy Volume) published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Dr. Singh has also managed several projects related to CBM and coal mine methane (CMM) in the country. He was the lead investigator for the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) in the United Nations Development Program Global Environment Facility Government of India (UNDP/GEF-GOI Project) on Coalbed Methane Recovery and Utilization and the Project Leader of the United States EPA Grant on Coal Mine Methane Recovery and Utilization in three major Indian coalfields. He also led the Network Project on Underground Coal Gasification. He has also led several consultancy projects, for e.g. the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), subsidiaries of Coal India Limited (CIL) and other private enterprises. Thus, he has more than 25 years experience advising the government and agencies on critical issues related to CBM, CMM and other related aspects in the field of earth sciences and energy. Partha Narayan Hajra has been working with India's leading oil and natural gas company, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), for the last 36 years. Mr. Hajra has been involved from the initial phase of coalbed methane (CBM) exploration of ONGC and with his untiring efforts has established indigenous techniques for the assessment of CBM potential from various laboratory studies. As CBM exploration has progressed, he has taken a keen interest in all aspects of CBM activities - exploration, drilling and production - and has developed a comprehensive understanding of this field. In recognition of his contributions to the field of CBM he was awarded the National Mineral Award - 2000 in 2002 by the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. He served as the General Manager, supervising the entire range of CBM exploration activities and formulation and planning of future development activities in the CBM blocks under CBM Development Project, ONGC, Bokaro. He is currently associated with CSIR-CIMFR as a consultant for feasibility study on CBM and assessing fugitive emissions from the petroleum and natural gas section.