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India plans to expand its coal-fired power generation capacity by at least 80 GW by the fiscal year 2031-32, according to the power ministry, underscoring the nation's continued reliance on coal despite ambitions to expand renewable energy.
During a strategy review meeting on November 21, Power Minister Raj Kumar Singh outlined plans for 27 GW currently under construction and an additional 55-60 GW in the pipeline, local media Mint reported.
Coal currently fuels over half of India's total installed capacity of over 400 GW. The expansion comes as power demand hits new highs, reaching a grid-testing 239.9 GW on September 1, according to the report.
India needs uninterrupted power to sustain its economic growth, while renewables alone cannot meet this need, and nuclear capacity expansion is not fast enough, so coal plants must be added, Mint quoted Singh as saying.
India is the world's second-largest coal producer. Singh said coal "cannot be written off" until renewable power becomes available around the clock.
India pledged to have 500 GW of installed renewable capacity by the end of this decade, including 280 GW of solar and 140 GW of wind.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 22 laid out India's environmental push ahead of the UN climate summit in Dubai next week, pledging to triple renewable energy use by 2030.
(Writing by Alex Guo Editing by Harry Huo)
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