Coal to remain central to India’s energy mix as power demand surges
Friday, January 30 2026 - 07:39 AM WIB
Coal will remain central to India’s energy mix as the country seeks to triple its per capita energy consumption over the next two decades, Union Coal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt said on Thursday, as reported by Times of India.
Speaking at a panel discussion on the third day of India Energy Week 2026, Dutt said affordable and dependable baseload power was essential for India’s development.
“Coal is not going away in a hurry. For India, affordable and dependable baseload power is not a choice; it is an imperative,” he said. “The mantra is not ‘phase out’, it is ‘phase down’ in calibrated steps that reflect ground realities.”
According to the Economic Survey 2025–26, coal accounts for about 55% of India’s primary energy mix and fuels more than 74% of total power generation. India’s installed power generation capacity stands at nearly 514 gigawatts (GW), including about 247 GW of thermal capacity. Annual per capita electricity consumption, currently around 1,460 kilowatt-hours (kWh), is projected to rise to 2,000 kWh by 2030 and exceed 4,000 kWh by 2047.
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Highlighting the global perspective, Kyle Haustveit, Assistant Secretary for Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, said coal remains critical for energy security worldwide.
“Coal powered the modern world and it is not going away. Reliable, affordable and secure energy matters, and coal provides that stability, regardless of weather or market volatility,” he said, pointing to opportunities for India–US collaboration in clean coal technologies, coal gasification, carbon utilisation and trade in high-quality metallurgical coal.
Coal India Limited Chairman-cum-Managing Director B. Sairam said coal would act as a bridge fuel during India’s energy transition. “India’s per capita energy consumption is barely a third of that in developed economies. As this demand triples, coal will provide firm, dispatchable power while renewables and storage mature,” he said.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak