India has reached a major clean energy milestone, reporting an installed electricity capacity of 49% from non-fossil fuel sources, meaning the country is five years ahead of its 2030 Paris Agreement target.
Pralhad Joshi, Minister for New and Renewable Energy, highlighted the country’s commitment to climate action and noted that “this significant milestone signals that India’s clean energy transition is not only real but also accelerating”.
However, the actual amount of clean energy consumed accounts for only 30% of the total electricity supplied. Fossil fuels, particularly coal, continue to dominate electricity generation, underscoring the challenges in the country’s full transition to a green energy future.
Renewables surge
India has ranked third globally in power generation capacity growth over the last five years, behind China and the US.
Electricity consumption has surged, growing by over 9% between 2021 and 2025, exceeding earlier forecasts of 6.6%, and usage is expected to double by 2030. To meet its needs, the country has diversified its energy sources, with renewable power seeing a notable increase.
As of July 2025, India’s total power capacity stood at 484.82 gigawatts (GW), split between 49.92% thermal (the burning of fuel), 38.08% renewables, 10.19% large hydro, and 1.81% nuclear. For the first time, non-fossil fuel capacity (242.78 GW) has marginally overtaken fossil-based capacity (242.04 GW).
Coal still king
Despite this progress, coal still accounts for more than 70% of electricity production across some 300 coal-fired power plants, with this figure having not changed since the early 2000s. This makes India the world’s second-largest coal consumer after China.
Thermal power accounts for 50.52% of total installed capacity, with coal contributing 91% of this. India’s coal-fired power capacity rose to 214.7GW as of June 30, marking a 4 GW increase from 210.9 GW the previous year.
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This trend is considered to be largely due to the affordability and abundance of coal in India on the one hand, and poor capacity to store the renewable energy produced on the other hand. Despite impressive investments in the energy sector, the trend remains unchanged.
Billions in investments
In 2023, foreign direct investment in India’s power sector reached US$5 billion. In 2024, the country received US$2.4 billion in funding, 83% of which was channeled to clean energy, driving non-fossil power capacity to 44%.
India aims to achieve 500 GW of non-fossil energy capacity by 2030, which will include hydro and nuclear power. It is projected to increase its nuclear power capacity from 8,180 MW to 22,480 MW by 2031-32 and aims to reach 100 GW by 2047.
To achieve this, India has allocated over US$2 billion for nuclear research and development and plans to invest around US$62 billion to expand its nuclear capacity to 30 GW over the next two decades.
India is among the world’s top polluters
The country is the world’s third-largest carbon dioxide emitter and has pledged to aggressively decarbonize and, to help to achieve this, the government is promoting battery storage, the recycling of solar and wind components, and green hydrogen.
Fossil fuel emissions cause devastating harm, resulting in 1 million deaths, 980,000 pre-term births, and 350,000 new child asthma cases every year. The economic toll is also staggering, with carbon dioxide emissions costing US$210 billion each year, including US$150 billion from fossil fuels, which is equivalent to 5% of India’s income.
See also: India’s air pollution turning into a silent killer
Notwithstanding this, Nilendu Kumar Singh, CEO of the state-run Central Coalfields Limited, claims that coal remains a priority sector, receiving robust policy and investment support.
“I’m pleased to share that we’ll be opening two new coal mines in FY25, which will boost our output by 10-12 million tonnes. We’re targeting 150 million tonnes by 2030, a significant jump from our FY25 production of 87.5 million tonnes,” he announced.
