Phasing out coal for power holds key to India's net-zero goal by 2050

Under pressure to commit to a net-zero target before climate change talks in Glasgow in November, the world's third-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases has been considering a 2050 deadline

India must phase out its coal-fired power plants by the middle of this century to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by that time, according to a new report on the challenges that’ll be posed in setting more ambitious climate targets.

The nation will need to progressively reduce coal’s share in electricity generation, currently at about 65%, and remove it altogether by 2050, according to the report published by The Energy and Resources Institute, a New Delhi-based think-tank, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. The share of renewables in the power mix needs to climb to 90%, a more than eight-fold increase from