Transition away from coal not likely in near future: Govt to RS

India’s transition away from coal or “just transition” will not happen in the foreseeable future, the Coal Ministry informed the Rajya Sabha on December 11. In other responses during the winter session that ended Thursday, the coal ministry said it plans to open up several new coal mines.

The responses are significant, because, soon after, on December 13, at the COP28 climate conference, nearly 200 countries, including India agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems, in a just, orderly and equitable manner, accelerating action in this critical decade, so as to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Although India is expanding renewable/non-fossil-based energy, the share of coal in the energy basket is going to remain significant in years ahead to ensure affordable energy availability, accessibility, and energy security for sustainable development and poverty eradication, the coal ministry added on December 11, in its response to a question by YSR Congress Party leader and MP, S Niranjan Reddy on whether government has an estimate of the jobs lost due to closure of mines and other fossil fuel sectors; the implementation status of the Just Transition Project set up by the government with the World Bank; and whether government intends to adopt a “Just Transition Policy” that is in alignment with the Paris Agreement for protecting and supporting workers affected by job losses resulting from the push towards green energy.

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“In India, the transition away from coal or Just Transition is not happening in foreseeable future. Although India is pushing for renewable/non-fossil-based energy, but the share of coal in the energy basket is going to remain significant in years ahead to ensure affordable energy availability, accessibility, and energy security to enable sustainable development and poverty eradication,” the ministry said in its response.

On Tuesday, Power minister RK Singh informed the Rajya Sabha that India’s new and renewable energy capacity has increased nearly 2.35 times since 2013-14 to nearly 179.54 GW this year which is around 42% of total installed capacity. India, in its updated nationally determined contribution submitted last year committed to have 50% of installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based power sources by 2030.

Coal minister, Pralhad Joshi informed Rajya Sabha on December 11 that the manpower deployed in the mines of government coal companies which are to be closed in three to four years will be redeployed in nearby mines of coal companies.

On December 18, Joshi again informed Rajya Sabha that domestic coal production is expected to grow by 6-7% annually over the next few years to reach about 1.5 billion tonnes in 2029-30 (in the current financial year, till November 2023, the country has produced about 591.40 MT of coal compared to 524.72 MT during the same period of last year with a growth of about 13%). For smooth transit of coal to end-users, steps are also being taken to improve evacuation infrastructure through new rail projects, he added. “India is the world’s fastest growing major economy and is expected to become the world’s third largest economy in the coming years. With the rapid industrial growth, the demand for energy has increased over the last decade and will continue to increase in the near future.”

In response to a question in Lok Sabha on December 6, Joshi elaborated on the plans to open new coal mines. “Not just 99 coal mines (auctioned so far), many more coal mines have been offered for allocation to interested bidders through a most transparent auction process for commercial mining launched in 2020. Till date, 7 rounds of commercial auctions have been completed and 91 coal mines have been successfully auctioned with peak rated capacity of 221 MTPA (million tonnes per annum).”

The 8th round of commercial auctions was launched on November 15 offering 35 mines. Further, on December 18, the Coal Ministry launched the 9th round of auctions in which 26 coal mines from 4 states including Chhattisgarh were offered.

Joshi added on December 6 that India has continued decoupling economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions. India’s emission intensity of gross domestic product (GDP) has reduced by 24% between 2005 and 2016.

“The coal ministry’s statement in Rajya Sabha echoes India’s stand during COP28, that development is at the core of India’s climate policy. This doesn’t imply that India is oblivious to climate change mitigation goals. The pace of addition of renewable energy will far outpace that of coal. Meeting electricity needs of a fast growing economy necessitates a policy where variable renewable energy is complemented by stable base load coal in the near future, to ensure that the government delivers on its development agenda,” said Vaibhav Chaturvedi, Fellow at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW).

Officials from the Indian delegation at COP28 said one of the major issues that India managed to deal with at the negotiations was limiting new coal power projects. For example, in the fifth iteration of the GST text, released on December 11, there was a mention of “rapidly phasing down unabated coal and limitations on permitting new and unabated coal power generation.” In the final document which was adopted on Wednesday this was changed to “accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power.”

“We cannot depend on imported oil and gas. Until we achieve our development needs, we will use coal. The language on coal (in the UAE agreement) is a repetition from the Glasgow agreement in 2021. What is important is developed countries wanted to push for language on limiting new coal power which we managed to thwart,” environment minister Bhupender Yadav said on Tuesday.

HT had reported on December 13 that the UAE Consensus is a very carefully calibrated decision text that calls on countries to contribute in a “nationally determined manner” to: tripling renewable energy capacity globally and doubling the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030; accelerating efforts towards the phase-down of unabated coal power; accelerating efforts globally towards net zero emission energy systems, utilizing zero- and low-carbon fuels well before or by around mid-century; and transitioning away from fossil fuels in energy systems among others. A provision on using transitional fuels leaves room for several countries to continue using gas and oil, experts have pointed out.