Central government has no immediate plans to add coal-based power capacity after 2035, a senior power ministry official said on Sunday. Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal told Reuters that the country aims to maintain 307 GW of coal power capacity by 2035 but it is “premature” to decide anything beyond that timeline.
Earlier this year, India proposed a 46% increase in its existing coal capacity of 210 GW, while also targeting 500 GW of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. Agarwal said the coal expansion is aligned with the country’s energy needs.
He noted that India is currently grappling with grid constraints due to surplus clean energy and has had to curb power generation in several months this year. The government will reassess the need for additional coal capacity only after reviewing power demand growth and the pace of renewable integration over the next three years.
Agarwal added that India must also evaluate grid stability challenges and the cost of storing excess renewable power in batteries before making long-term coal decisions.
Coal-fired power, which normally accounts for about 75% of India’s electricity generation, has declined year-on-year in seven of the past 11 months — the most since 2020 — due to milder weather lowering cooling demand. Despite this, several utilities are entering long-term agreements with coal plants to meet rising evening power requirements.