India aims to add 17 gigawatts of coal-based power generation capacity in the next 16 months, its fastest pace in recent years, to avert outages due to a record rise in power demand, according to government officials and documents.
The expansion drive comes ahead of this week’s U.N. climate summit COP28, where France and the United States are expected to clamp down on financing for coal plants, a move that India, dependent on coal for 73% of power generation, plans to oppose.
The world’s fastest growing major economy has added an annual average of 5 gigawatts of coal-based electricity generation capacity over the last five years, but it is also ramping up renewable energy.
