--- title: "Keeping a Landmark Plant Dry: Ocean Geo Composite at the BCGCL Project, Jharsuguda, Odisha" date: 2026-10-15 author: "Sales Team" url: https://oceangeosynthetics.com/drainage-geocomposite-bcgcl-project-jharsuguda-odisha/ --- October 15, 2026 | [Case Studies](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/case-studies/), [Geocomposites](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/category/geocomposites/) # Keeping a Landmark Plant Dry: Ocean Geo Composite at the BCGCL Project, Jharsuguda, Odisha Ocean Non Wovens supplied 2,000 sq m of Ocean Geo Composite to the BCGCL Project at Jharsuguda, Odisha. BCGCL, Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited, is the joint venture of Coal India Limited and BHEL building India’s first commercial-scale coal-to-ammonium nitrate plant at Lakhanpur in the Ib Valley coalfield. A plant of this size depends on reliable subsurface drainage across its foundations, retaining structures and internal roads, and that is the job a drainage geocomposite is built for. ## Project snapshot | Parameter | Details | | --- | --- | | Project | BCGCL Project (coal gasification and ammonium nitrate plant) | | Owner | Bharat Coal Gasification and Chemicals Limited (Coal India 51%, BHEL 49%) | | Location | Lakhanpur, Jharsuguda district, Odisha | | Product supplied | Ocean Geo Composite (drainage geocomposite) | | Quantity | 2,000 sq m | | Supplied by | Ocean Non Wovens | | Sector | [Power and mining](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/suitable_sectors/power-and-mining/) | ## About the BCGCL project The plant will gasify domestic coal and convert it into about 0.66 million tonnes per year of technical grade ammonium nitrate, a chemical used mainly in mining explosives. It uses pressurised fluidised bed gasification technology developed in India, and sits on roughly 350 acres provided by Mahanadi Coalfields Limited, which will also supply coal and washery rejects from its Ib Valley operations. The foundation stone was laid in June 2026, and the project is one of the largest investments under India’s coal gasification programme. For the civil engineering teams, a process plant like this means heavy equipment foundations, pipe racks, internal roads, retaining walls, drainage channels and storage areas, all built in a short construction window. Water management underground is part of every one of those elements. ## Why drainage matters at Jharsuguda Jharsuguda sits in western Odisha, where the south-west monsoon delivers most of the year’s rain between June and September. The ground around the coalfield includes lateritic and clayey soils, fill and disturbed land. That combination creates a few predictable problems: - **Hydrostatic pressure behind walls:** water trapped in backfill pushes on retaining walls and abutments, adding load the wall was never meant to carry. - **Saturated subgrades:** roads and hardstands lose bearing capacity when water sits in the subgrade, leading to rutting and potholes under heavy plant traffic. - **Fines migration:** fine soil carried by seepage clogs conventional drains and undermines foundations over time. - **Construction speed:** traditional gravel drains need large volumes of graded aggregate, haulage and careful placement, which slows a tight schedule. A drainage layer that collects water quickly, keeps soil out and carries it away under load solves all four. ## What Ocean Geo Composite is Ocean Geo Composite is a drainage geocomposite: an HDPE geonet core laminated on both faces with a nonwoven polypropylene filter geotextile. Each part has a distinct role. The **geonet core** is a net of HDPE ribs that leaves open channels running along the plane of the sheet. Water entering the core flows sideways along these channels to a collector pipe or outlet, even when the sheet is buried under fill or pressed against a wall. The **filter geotextiles** on each face let water pass into the core while holding back the surrounding soil. Without them, fines would wash into the channels and the drain would clog. The geotextiles also add puncture resistance and protect the core during backfilling. The result is a single layer, a few millimetres thick, that does the work of a filter fabric plus a granular drainage blanket. ## Technical specifications Ocean manufactures two standard grades. The values below are from Ocean’s published data; the grade supplied for any project is chosen against its design. | Property | Test method | Railway grade 7.2 mm | MoRTH grade 5.5 mm, 700 GSM | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Thickness | EN ISO 9863-1 | 7.2 mm | 5.5 mm (-0.5) | | Mass per unit area | | 900–1,000 g/m² | 700 g/m² | | Wide width tensile strength (MD/CMD) | EN ISO 10319 | 20 kN/m (±2) | 16 kN/m (±2) | | CBR puncture resistance | EN ISO 12236 | 3,500 N (-350) | 3,000 N (-350) | | In-plane flow rate (i = 1) | EN ISO 12958 | 2.1 L/m.s at 20 kPa | 0.55 L/m.s at 100 kPa, 0.45 L/m.s at 200 kPa | | Filter AOS | ASTM D4751 | 0.150 mm | 0.220 mm | | UV resistance at 500 hrs | ASTM D4355 | >70% | >70% | In-plane flow rate is the main design property. Flow falls as normal stress rises, so engineers compare products at the pressure their structure will apply. Behind a tall retaining wall or under deep fill, that pressure can reach 100 to 200 kPa, which is why the MoRTH grade is tested at those loads. For long-term design, laboratory flow is reduced by factors for core creep, geotextile intrusion into the core, and chemical or biological clogging, following GRI-GC8 or ASTM D7931. ## Where geocomposite works on a process plant On an industrial site of this scale, 2,000 sq m of drainage geocomposite can serve several applications. The most common are: **Behind retaining walls and abutments.** Placed against the back of the wall before backfilling, the geocomposite intercepts seepage and carries it down to a perforated pipe at the base. The wall no longer has to resist water pressure, only earth pressure. **Below roads and hardstands.** Laid on the subgrade, it acts as a drainage and separation layer, keeping the pavement base dry and stopping fine subgrade soil from pumping up into the aggregate under repeated loading. **Around foundations and basements.** Against below-ground concrete, it relieves water pressure and directs seepage to sumps, protecting waterproofing and reducing the risk of leaks into pits and service trenches. **Under storage and containment areas.** Beneath liners and slabs, a geocomposite layer collects leakage or groundwater and vents gas, which matters wherever process chemicals or stored material are involved. See our [environment and landfill solutions](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/solution/environment-dewatering-landfills/) for related systems. Ocean geocomposites are already working in similar roles elsewhere in India, including the leachate drainage layer of a [landfill project in Odisha](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/drainage-geocomposite-55-mm/) and the drain behind a [retaining wall in Rewari](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/retaining-wall-landscaping-with-geocomposite-in-rewari/), where it allowed a slimmer wall design. Ocean’s technical team helps contractors match the grade, roll layout and outlet details to each of these uses, so the material on site fits the drainage design rather than a generic catalogue item. ## Geocomposite against a conventional gravel drain | Factor | Ocean Geo Composite | Graded aggregate drain with filter fabric | | --- | --- | --- | | Thickness | 5.5–7.2 mm | Typically 300 mm or more | | Material haulage | Rolls on a single truck | Many truckloads of aggregate | | Installation | Unroll, overlap, fix | Spread, grade, compact in layers | | Filtration | Built-in geotextile on both faces | Separate fabric layer needed | | Quality control | Factory-made, consistent properties | Depends on aggregate grading on site | | Space taken | Negligible | Reduces usable backfill zone | On a site where aggregate, trucks and time are all in demand, replacing a thick gravel blanket with a thin factory-made layer frees up resources for the rest of the build. Supplying 2,000 sq m by roll also keeps material handling simple and predictable. ## Installation good practice Drainage geocomposite is quick to install, but a few details decide how well it performs: 1. Prepare a smooth, firm surface free of sharp stones, protruding bars and debris. 2. Unroll the geocomposite with the correct face toward the soil, as marked on the roll. 3. Overlap adjacent rolls so the cores butt and the geotextile flap covers the joint, then tie or fix the overlap. 4. Wrap the base of the sheet around a perforated collector pipe, or connect it to an outlet, so the water has somewhere to go. 5. Backfill in layers without dragging machinery across the exposed sheet, and avoid leaving it in direct sunlight for long periods. 6. Keep the outlet clear and accessible for inspection. The most common fault is a drain with no outlet. A geocomposite can only relieve pressure if the water it collects is carried away. ## Long-term performance Once buried, a geocomposite drain works with little or no maintenance. The HDPE core resists chemical attack and does not rot, and the polypropylene filter holds its properties in soil. With the right grade and correctly detailed outlets, the drainage layer keeps walls, roads and foundations dry for the life of the plant, which is what an industrial project of this importance requires. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a drainage geocomposite? It is a geonet drainage core bonded on both faces to a nonwoven filter geotextile. Water passes through the geotextile into the core and flows along it to an outlet, while the soil stays outside. ### Which Ocean geocomposite grade should I choose? The 7.2 mm railway grade is tested for flow at 20 kPa, typical of railway formations. The 5.5 mm, 700 GSM MoRTH grade is tested at 100 and 200 kPa, the higher pressures behind retaining walls, abutments and deep fill. ### Can a geocomposite replace a gravel drain? In most wall, foundation and subgrade drainage applications, yes. A single factory-made layer a few millimetres thick replaces a filter fabric plus a granular drainage blanket, provided the design flow rate and outlets are checked. ### How is the long-term flow rate of a geocomposite calculated? Laboratory in-plane flow is reduced by factors for core creep, geotextile intrusion and clogging, following GRI-GC8 or ASTM D7931. ## Ocean Non Wovens: geosynthetics for India’s infrastructure Ocean Non Wovens manufactures and supplies high-performance geosynthetics for large-scale civil engineering across India. Our range covers [geocomposites](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geo-composites/), [geotextiles](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/products/geotextile-manufacturers/), geomembranes, geogrids, geocells, gabions, geo bags and [drainage products](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/solution/drainage-of-structures/), made to Indian and international standards and backed by technical support from specification to installation. Our products are at work on defence infrastructure, airports, highways, railways, industrial developments, power and mining projects, and environmental engineering works such as landfills and water storage. Supplying the BCGCL Project at Jharsuguda adds one of the country’s most significant new industrial plants to that list. If you are planning retaining walls, foundation drainage, road subgrades or containment works on an industrial, power or infrastructure project, [contact Ocean Non Wovens](https://oceangeosynthetics.com/contact/) to discuss your requirements. 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