As the president, Alok Sharma, put it, this year's COP-26 summit is really shaping up to be "historic". India’s final statement in the Glasgow summit, raised allegation of a “phase down” coal. However, recent statement from the government sources disregarded this claim and marked the situation as “unfair”. Although, It is true that India is majorly dependent on coal for the country’s development and prosperity and in this article few of the major segments will be discussed.
Deeply sewed in Indian economy
Coal adds up a huge chunk to the Indian economy. With over 75% of share, Coal India Limited (CIL) is an important source of revenue for the central government of India. CIL is also a major employer in the country and it is a direct and indirect source of livelihood for a considerable portion of the population. The study published by Sandeep Pai, a researcher at the University of British Columbia on the basis of the data collected from coal-mining company Coal India Limited (CIL), power utility company NTPC, Coal Controller’s Organisation and India’s Ministry of Coal noted that, It is necessary to address the needs of the people who are directly or indirectly involved with the coal industry prior implementing the transition to the alternative source. The paper found that, in India, there are 284 districts (38.5%) that are coal-dependent in some way. They either house coal employees or coal retirees, collect DMF funds, or profit from coal corporations' CSR expenditures. The researcher also discovered that 33 of the 284 districts are among the most coal-dependent, and that they should be at the centre of any transition strategy. Many other studies suggest that around 10-15 million dependents live in India’s coal belt.
Industrial dependency
A study published by Ronald P. Steenblik and Mark Mateo in the Cambridge university press supports the fact that Western Europe's industrialization was majorly powered by coal.
Another study named “The History of Energy in the United Kingdom” states that the U.K was majorly dependent on coal mining. For a long time, the UK's heavy reliance on fossil fuels (94 percent of total energy consumption in 1970) made it one of the world's leading emitters of greenhouse gases. It is evident of the fact that the west had a fair share of dependence on coal for its industrialization and development. For a developing country like India, coal plays a decisive role in industrialization as well.
Segments like Steel and washrey, Cement, Aluminium industry and a lot more are heavily dependent on the production and power of the industry. For example - In the cement industry coal is both used as a fuel and an input. As quoted by ex-chief justice R M Lodha in 2014, “Coal is king and paramount Lord of industry is an old saying in the industrial world. Industrial greatness has been built up on coal by many countries. In India, coal is the most important indigenous energy resource and remains the dominant fuel for power generation and many industrial applications.” This statement still holds true for the current scenario of India.
Powering up the nation
India is a vast country of 1.37 billion people that has undergone rapid economic growth over the last 20 years to become the world’s fifth-largest economy. Total power generation has increased by 40% over the last decade. In the fiscal year 2019, the country produced 1,598 TWh of electricity out of which coal alone accounted for 72% of the total electricity generation. Let's be honest, unlike the west, India cannot afford to rely on oil and gas and nuclear power for most of its output. For now coal is the only form of affordable, secure and dispatchable power for the growing economy of India. However, it must be noted that India is making a rapid shift towards renewable sources of energy. For example - Today, more than 60% of the total electricity consumed by the Delhi metro comes from solar sources. Yet implementing renewable energy at the very grassroot level is still a complicated problem for lower-middle-income India.
Railway and coal
Indian railway and coal are interdependent in a complex manner. The Indian railway is strictly based on passenger underpayment and freight overpayment. Out of that the coal freight rate on Indian railways amounts for 44 percent of freight profits despite accounting for just 40 percent of total freight tonne-kilometers. According to a study provided by the Central Energy Authority, in the fiscal year 2017, 341 MT, or 60%, of the 574 MT of coal utilised for grid electricity generation was transported by the railway. The Indian railways account for 85% of the total transportation charge of coal to the thermal power point.
It is worth saying that India has proved itself as a leader in addressing climate change. India has made a rapid stride towards renewable energy on many levels. The future seems bright as India promises to attain “net zero” by 2070.
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