Coal will continue to meet India’s growing energy needs for next five decades: Experts

The remarks come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi surprised delegates at the COP26 climate summit with a bold pledge to cut emissions from the world’s third-largest emitter by 2070.

“Coal will continue to meet India’s growing energy needs over the next five decades and is only going to peak in the 2040s – so we need to continue investing in coal mines and infrastructure, otherwise we will face fuel challenges in October. Debasis Mishra, partner at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in India, told PTI.

As such, India’s thermal coal capacity is expected to increase to 267 GW by 2030 from 210 GW estimated by CEA. There will also be retirement of old capacities. So in no case will the thermal coal capacity be hit by this COP26 commitment, he said.

According to Partha Sarathi Bhattacharya, former chairman of Coal India, coal will have to stay and initially actually increase in quantity and not in stock.

“The stock will go down but it is in terms of volume and in terms of capacity it will probably go up from current levels,” he explained.

Niladri Bhattacharjee, Partner, Metal & Mining, KPMG in India said that prima facie, the commitment of 2070 to Net-Zero is quite remarkable. Although the generation responsible for this has not yet been born or is very young.

He said, “The death of coal is not a foregone conclusion, especially in the power sector. What happens to coal will be a function of India’s growth, the overall energy demand in India and the price of various forms of energy, as we pass through the infection.”

Imported energy may be the first casualty compared to domestic coal. “However, the fourth commitment, related to reducing the energy intensity of the economy so rapidly, will present a challenge for the steel, aluminum and cement sectors. Somehow, I think we need to wait and see what- How do separate commitments affect each other and whether one can be easy to be independent of the other,” he said.

Modi on Monday raised the 2030 target for renewable energy capacity from 450 GW to 500 GW and pledged to produce half the country’s electricity using renewable energy. India will cut carbon-dioxide emissions from trade as usual by 1 billion tonnes by the end of the decade.

To meet the 2070 target, the country still has to draw up a detailed plan for the intervening 40 years. Modi, in his address at the ongoing COP 26, on Monday announced a bold pledge that India will achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2070 and asserted that it is the only country that has made commitments to tackle climate change in “letter and spirit”. Distributing in. Paris Agreement.

He also raised the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for achieving 450 GW of non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW, along with other commitments including reducing carbon emissions.