India needs time and money before it can dump coal

NEW DELHI: India cannot afford to dump coal in a jiffy as it is the cheapest fuel available in abundance domestically for fuelling the level of economic growth needed to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty.
Those who described the Glasgow declaration a “cop out” after the words “phase out” were replaced with “phase down” for coal at New Delhi’s insistence, ignore the fact that the alternatives do not work for India, which is making effort to meet climate commitment by addressing emissions through a combination of measures at various levels.
China is the world’s biggest coal consumer, followed by India and the US. Coal fires 53% of India’s total generation capacity. In 2019, Central Electricity Authority data shows India produced 999 TWh (terawatt hour or trillion units) of power, while, according to International Energy Agency (IEA), China produced 4,876 TWh.