India's Clean Energy Boom Halts Coal Power Growth

An analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) for Carbon Brief finds that India’s rapid expansion of non-fossil power between the first half of 2024 and the first half of 2026 halted growth in coal-fired electricity generation for the first time in more than 50 years. That two-year span recorded the largest rise in non-fossil power on record, even as overall electricity demand increased, marking a significant inflection point in the country’s power mix and demonstrating that renewables can offset additional demand growth.

Despite the clean-energy surge, coal remains central to India’s energy strategy and capacity is still being expanded: about 43 GW of coal power was under construction at the end of June 2026 and overall coal-fired capacity installations continue to climb. Coal supplies roughly two-thirds of current power output, is seen as vital to avoid heatwave-induced blackouts, and features in broader fossil-fuel plans including coal-to-chemicals and increased coking-coal production for steel. Government advisers argue coal will stay a core part of the system for the next two decades, shifting the debate toward how to use existing and new coal infrastructure more sustainably.