Coal To Remain Key Pillar Of India’s Energy Mix As Demand Triples: Coal Secretary

New Delhi, Jan 30 (KNN) Coal will remain a key pillar of India’s energy mix as the country aims to triple its per capita energy consumption over the next two decades, Union Coal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt said at India Energy Week 2026.

“Coal is not going away in a hurry. For India, affordable and dependable baseload power is not a choice; it is an imperative. The mantra is not ‘phase out’, it is ‘phase down’ in calibrated steps that reflect ground realities,” Dutt said during a panel discussion.

Referring to the Economic Survey 2025–26, he said that coal makes up about 55 percent of India’s energy mix and generates over 74 percent of the country’s electricity. India’s total installed power capacity is close to 514 GW, of which around 247 GW is thermal.

India’s per capita electricity use stands at about 1,460 kWh a year, well below global levels, and is expected to increase to around 2,000 kWh by 2030 and exceed 4,000 kWh by 2047 as the economy develops, reported TOI.

Highlighting the global perspective, Kyle Haustveit, Assistant Secretary, Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy, US Department of Energy, said coal continues to be critical to global energy security.

“Reliable, affordable and secure energy matters, and coal provides that stability, regardless of weather or market volatility,” he said, pointing to scope for India–US collaboration in clean coal technologies, coal gasification, carbon utilisation and metallurgical coal trade.

Coal India Ltd CMD B. Sairam said coal would serve as a bridge fuel during the transition. “India’s per capita energy consumption is barely a third of that in developed economies. As demand triples, coal will provide firm, dispatchable power while renewables and storage mature,” he said.

(KNN Bureau)