B. Muthuraman in Bhubaneswar on Monday. (Sanjib Mukherjee)

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 18: Tata Group today proposed to set up a coal-to-liquid plant in Orissa with an investment of $10 billion in joint venture with South African company, Sasol.

The proposal was given by Tata Steel vice-chairman B. Muthuraman and Sasol Synfuel International Private Limited managing director Ernst Oberholster during their meeting with chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat here this evening.

“We had preliminary discussions with the chief minister about the Tata-Sasol project for converting coal into liquid,” Muthuraman said later.

The proposed project would be a large one with an investment of $10 billion, he said, adding that its exact location had not been identified yet.

The proposed plant will generate 1,600MW of power besides producing diesel, naptha and LPG. The byproducts will be tar, phenol, sulphur, ammonium, fertiliser and mining explosives.

According to sources, the proposed plant will have a capacity of 80,000 barrels per day which comes to around 3.6 million tonnes per annum.

The plant, which is scheduled to be commissioned in 2018, will require 28 to 31 million tonnes of coal per annum.

It will need 3,000 acres of land for the proposed plant and 24 million gallons water per day.