• India crossed a record milestone of 1 billion tonnes of coal production in the current fiscal. 

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi described it as a proud moment for the country.

• Coal, which is predominately used to produce electricity as well as fuel in several industries, is the mainstay energy source for the country.

• India produced 997.83 million tonnes of coal in 2023-24 (April 2023 to March 2024).

• Increased coal production makes the domestic coal available at a lower price in the market for consumption. This will reduce the cost of energy generation. 

India’s coal sector

• Coal is the most important and abundant fossil fuel in India. It accounts for 55 per cent of the country’s energy needs. 

• India is the second largest producer of coal in the world after China. 

• As on April 1, 2024 the coal resources stand at 389421.34 Million tonnes (MT)

• The resources have been found mainly in Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra

• Nearly 90 per cent of the coal reserves in India constitute non-coking coal or thermal coal which is primarily used for power generation and in industries such as cement and brick-kilns. 

• Whereas, approximately 10 per cent of the reserves are coking coal reserves which are majorly used in the steel production process. India imports a quarter of its coal requirements.

• In India, about 80 per cent of coal is used in thermal power plants. 

• With environmental concerns and development of renewable energy, diversification of coal for its sustainable use is inevitable. 

Why is coal India’s only reliable energy source?

• The first major energy transition from wood to coal began in the early 18th century, coinciding with the advent of the first industrial revolution. Two centuries later, coal was overtaken by oil and gas around 1946 and fossil fuels became the primary energy source globally.

• The energy transition from wood to coal was motivated by several factors, of which industrialisation in Britain and concerns over the loss of forests due to enhanced logging were predominant.

• Coal has an important role to play in India’s sustainable development. 

• Around 88 per cent of the US’s coal-fired power plants capacity was built between 1950 and 1990.

• On the other hand, the United Kingdom, driven by their industrialisation, started very early and their coal-run power plants dominated the energy supply till the late 1970s when natural gas was identified as a reliable substitute.

• In India’s case, most capacity additions to the coal-fired power plants were made only in the 2010s. 

• According to the Economic Survey, there is no valid economic rationale for shutting down coal plants in India, leaving huge investments underutilised and stranded and without a dependable alternative in place. 

• The US and European countries may transition from coal to natural gas because they have access to that resource, and their older conventional coal-based thermal plants are nearing the end of their life cycle. 

• Unlike many developed countries, India’s only reliable energy source is coal, as it possesses around 10 per cent of the world’s coal reserves but only 0.7 per cent of the world’s natural gas reserves.

• Presently, given the resource endowments, coal cannot be neglected as a reliable and affordable source of energy for India’s development. 

• India has, however, taken a leading role in climate action, with the government implementing measures to reduce emissions in the economy. 

• One key strategy has been to promote the efficient use of coal by utilising super-critical, ultra-super-critical and the recent Advanced Ultra Super Critical (AUSC) technologies in coal-based power plants.

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