Coal on its way out

Coal is decisively on its way out in India. As per an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water, coal-fired power’s share in the total installed generation capacity in the country has fallen from a recent peak of 62% (FY16 and FY17) to 52% in FY23.

Mirroring this, the investment in new coal capacity by the Power Finance Corporation and REC Ltd has fallen sharply. As India moves steadily towards a Net Zero deadline of 2070, further acceleration of the coal phase-out is only to be expected.

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The space coal vacates is, of course, going to be taken up by renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, inlcuding rooftop solar. However, the CEEW analysis shows that the share of hydropower, another clean source, has been falling.