Statsguru: Coal reigns supreme as India's clean energy remains elusive

Even as a climate crisis looms large amid skyrocketing temperatures and natural disasters brewing worldwide, India’s transition to clean energy might have to wait a little. Despite many government efforts and initiatives to facilitate this transition, New Delhi appears to be far behind other major energy-consuming countries.

 

A recent report by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (Mospi) noted that coal continued to be a significant part of India’s growth story. Titled ‘Energy Statistics India 2025’, the ministry’s annual publication talks about India’s dependence on and import intensity of various energy sources and their share in India’s total electricity generation.

 

The share of coal in India’s total final energy consumption (TFEC) inched up from 31.08 per cent in FY23 to 33.01 per cent in FY24. Meanwhile, the share of oil products reduced from 40.53 per cent to 38.9 per cent during the same period (Chart 1). 

 

India’s overall net energy import dependence increased marginally from 39.37 per cent in FY23 to 40.27 per cent in FY24. This means the country is now more reliant on imports for meeting its energy requirements (Chart 2). 

 

Coal imports in India jumped from 234 million tonnes (mt) in FY19 to 263 mt in FY24, while crude oil and natural gas imports showed a moderate rise in their imports during the same period (Chart 3). 

 

Thermal energy’s share in India’s electricity generation rose from 77.02 per cent in 2023 to 78.54 per cent in 2024, while the share of hydropower declined from 8.87 per cent to 6.9 per cent (Chart 4). 

 

When compared globally to top seven electricity markets, India’s share of clean energy in electricity generation was the least at 22 per cent (Chart 5). 

 

India had the highest emission intensity among the major electricity-consuming markets at 708 gCO₂/kWh but one of the lowest emissions per capita at 1 tCO₂ (Chart 6).