India CMM/CBM Clearinghouse is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established under the aegis of Ministry of Coal, Govt. of India and United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) with an aim to contribute to the commercial development of CMM/CBM in India.

• Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and its mitigation and gainful utilization is a priority area both at Govt. and industry level in India and several other countries.
• United States of America (USA) has taken initiative in this regard and formed an international organization called Methane to Markets (M2M, now Global Methane Initiative, GMI) with an aim to reduce global methane emissions and to advance the abatement, recovery and use of methane as a valuable clean energy source.
• India is one of the 14 founder member countries in this initiative and the initiative is presently having more than 46 member countries. The GMI is playing an active role in finding ways for abatement and harnessing of methane emissions from Oil & Gas, Landfill, Agriculture, Coal and Municipal Waste water sectors.

• With an objective of supporting development of India’s extensive Coalbed Methane (CBM) and Coal Mine Methane (CMM) resources, a Govt. level understanding was reached between Ministry of Coal (MoC), Govt of India and United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) on establishment of Coal Mine Methane & Coalbed Methane  Clearinghouse in India.
• A MoU was signed in November 2006 between the representatives of the Govt. of USA and Govt. of India for establishment of India CMM/CBM Clearinghouse in India.
• It was decided to establish the said clearinghouse at CMPDI, Ranchi on account of the fact that lot of CBM related activities have been undertaken by CMPDI and it is also the repository of exploration and mine related data.
• The methodology for establishment of CMM/CBM Clearinghouse was arrived at and the activities to be taken up by the Clearinghouse were outlined and funding mechanism for operationalizing the clearinghouse was finalized.  
• A kick-off function for opening of the clearinghouse was held on 17th November 2008, wherein high level functionaries of different department of the Govt. including Secretary (Coal),Dy.DG, DGH, Dy.DG,GSI,US  Govt./consulate officials including Hon’ble Consul General and captains of the coal industry including Chairman,CIL, Director (Tech), CIL, CMD, CMPDI and CMDs of other coal producing companies, representatives of educational institutions and research organizations and national/international players in the field CBM/CMM industry participated.
• The kickoff of the Clearinghouse presented a good opportunity to listen to the view points of the Govt., US officials, coal industry captains and also the CBM players.
• A dedicated website on the Clearinghouse http://www.cbmclearinghouse.cmpdi.co.in was also launched on the same day.
• The inauguration of the Clearinghouse was followed by an international workshop on “CMM Development in India: An Opportunity Area” wherein the opportunities existing in India and the technological challenges and also legal barriers were deliberated and discussed in detail.







• There was a general agreement among the attendees that the CBM/CMM development needs to be expedited in the country and special emphasis should be given on the development of CMM, which will have immediate environment advantages and also will make the future mining safe.
• The workshop presented a good insight on the national and international accomplishments made in the field of development of CBM/CMM.

The broad objectives of the CMM/CBM Clearinghouse are:

• Non-profit and non-governmental organization with an aim to contribute to the development of CBM/CMM.
• Promote CBM/CMM industry in India.
• To be public face of CBM/CMM industry in India through its communication and outreach efforts.
• Initial point of contact for foreign & domestic investors.
• The Clearinghouse was established for an initial period of 3 years w.e.f November,2008 with partial funding (about 25%) by USEPA and major funds were provided by Coal India Ltd. (about 75%) on behalf of Ministry of Coal.
• The term of the Clearinghouse has been extended upto 2018-21.