India shouldn’t give up on coal without ‘alternatives’: Economic Survey

India aims to become a developed nation by 2047 with a low-carbon pathway, balancing energy transition and security.

India must harness its “best resources, advanced technologies, and expertise” to becoming a developed nation by 2047 while ensuring a low-carbon pathway. However, it shouldn’t shut its coal-fired plants “without adequate alternatives,” the Economic Survey noted.

“The energy transitions witnessed till the last century were driven by commercial interests rather than the will to limit the emissions from advanced economies. Commercial interests and energy security remain the most significant factors in the transition pathway even today,” the document underscored.

As examples, the Survey cited the example of France that embarked on nuclear power expansion in the 1970s on the back of embargos by oil-producing countries.

In 2022, the Survey said in a chapter on climate adaptation, the European Union introduced the REPowerEU plan, to disengage from Russian gas supplies. The plan includes a budget of €10 billion (₹90,000 crore) for investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and an additional €1.5 to 2 billion (₹18,000 crore) designated for securing oil supplies.

In 2023, the U.S. administration also approved the onset of the country’s largest oil-drilling project in the Alaska region, with an estimated total oil and non-gas liquids production of 628.9 million barrels and 260.79 million tonnes of associated indirect carbon dioxide equivalent of emissions, the document added. “Actions speak louder than words, with the biggest beneficiaries of carbon-intensive growth over several centuries holding on to fossil fuels even as they would want the developing countries to take up the less efficient, costlier and riskier options,” the Survey remarked.

In India’s case, a large expansion of coal-fired power plants was made only in the 2010s and therefore there was “no valid economic rationale” for shuttering coal plants, which would only cause huge investments to be underutilised and stranded and without a dependable alternative in place.

However, India ought to continue pursuing its ambitious goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2070 and direct innovation and investment in addressing the problems related to renewable energy — battery storage, grid infrastructure and critical minerals, the Survey reckoned.