July 24, 2025
NEW DELHI – India’s coal dilemma is no longer about whether to move away from thermal power ~ it is about how to make it cleaner without compromising the country’s growing energy needs. With electricity demand rising faster than anticipated and renewables unable to offer round-the-clock reliability, thermal power plants remain central to India’s energy strategy. But their environmental cost is undeniable, contributing to over 40 per cent of national carbon emissions.
The time has come not to demonise coal, but to domesticate it ~ by making it cleaner, more efficient, and less destructive. Thermal power has powered India’s development since the early 2000s, and still accounts for more than 70 per cent of electricity generated. This figure has remained virtually unchanged despite rapid renewable energy expansion. Solar and wind now contribute significantly to installed capacity, but suffer from variability and limited storage options. India’s storage infrastructure has not kept pace with its green ambitions, and until it does thermal plants will continue to serve as the backbone of grid stability.
Critics often overlook the technical complexities of running a power grid in a country as vast and diverse as India. Renewable energy sources work best during daylight or windy hours, but demand peaks in the evenings and at night. Thermal plants, unlike renewables, are dispatchable ~ they can be relied upon to generate electricity on demand. However, they currently run at minimum levels of around 55 per cent capacity during low demand periods simply because ramping up takes time. Making these plants more flexible ~ capable of operating at lower thresholds and scaling up quickly ~ is a necessary technical leap.
Energy transition in India must reconcile climate responsibility with ground realities. Dismissing coal outright ignores infrastructure gaps, economic disparities, and the sheer scale of electricity demand in a still-developing nation. Decarbonisation within thermal energy is both a challenge and an opportunity. Technologies that capture carbon emissions from thermal plants are still nascent and cost-intensive, with limited effectiveness so far. However, the co-firing of agricultural waste alongside coal has shown encouraging results in regions around Delhi, where regulatory pressure is higher. Extending such practices across the country could significantly reduce coal dependence. But implementation is patchy, and enforcement even more so.
Transforming India’s thermal power sector will involve systemic change: retrofitting plants, revising operational norms, adopting hybrid fuel models, and building storage solutions for renewables. It will also require substantial investment ~ and clarity on who foots the bill. The state, the private sector, and consumers will all have to play a role in sharing this cost for a cleaner, yet reliable, power future. India’s energy transition cannot be one of abandonment, but one of adaptation. Coal, as it stands, is not going away anytime soon. But it can ~ and must ~ be cleaned up. The road to net zero by 2070 runs through India’s thermal corridors. The sooner we make them more efficient and less polluting, the better for both our economy and our environment.