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India is embarking on an ambitious plan to revive underground coal mining in a bid to meet its rapidly increasing energy demand, despite international pressure to reduce reliance on this polluting fossil fuel, source reported.
The country's coal ministry has outlined a strategy to triple production from underground mines by 2028, which involves auctioning new blocks, expediting environmental clearances, and incentivizing foreign investment and domestic equipment manufacturing.
Currently, India, the world's second-largest coal producer after China, extracts 95% of its coal from opencast mines, with approximately three-quarters of its power generated from coal. However, underground tunnel mining, which remains prevalent in countries like China and Australia, has declined significantly in recent years due to higher costs and associated risks.
India is now the world's most populous and the fastest-growing major economy. The push to expand underground mining is driven by the country's quest for new coal sources to meet surging energy demand.
A proponent of underground mining argued that it is a more environmentally friendly option due to its smaller land footprint and reduced land degradation. Critics, instead, disputed these claims, asserting that the extraction and combustion of fossil fuels perpetuate environmental harm.
India's heavy reliance on coal has also been a point of contention, particularly at the United Nations' annual COP summits.
While India signed an agreement at the 2021 COP summit to phase down coal usage, the country's demand for coal is predicted to increase from 1 billion tonnes last year to 1.5 billion tonnes during the same period this year.
Expanding production from underground mines to 100 million tonnes by 2028 is intended to offset depletion at open-cast mines and reduce coal imports, the coal ministry said.
The Indian government argued that until significant advancements are made in renewable technologies like battery storage, coal remains a cheap and accessible energy source necessary for ensuring energy security for its population. Additionally, the government believed that wealthier nations, which bear the majority of historic emissions, should take the lead in curbing pollution.
Comparatively, India's per capita coal consumption is half that of the United States, according to data from the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), and many Indians still struggle with limited access to reliable power.
A senior fellow at CSEP acknowledged the challenges of generating sufficient interest in underground mining to meet the government's ambitious production goals. Previous attempts to attract private investment for new mines have had limited success, partly due to companies' reluctance to engage in long-term investments in the fossil fuel sector.
(Writing by Riley Liang Editing by Harry Huo)
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