India Using Coal Tax Money to Fund Renewable Energy Projects

The India One Solar Thermal Power Plant in northwest India.

The India One Solar Thermal Power Plant in northwest India. Brahma Kumaris/Flickr

India has used $1.8 billion collected from the nation’s coal tax to fund renewable energy projects, according to the Ministry of Finance. The money was collected from fossil fuel companies on every ton of coal mined in, or imported to, India between 2010 and 2016.

India has a goal of quadrupling the amount of electricity it generates from renewable sources to 175 gigawatts by 2022. It has also pledged to reduce emissions up to 35 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The country introduced a coal tax in 2010 and has since funneled a share of the money collected — an average of 40 percent — to the National Clean Energy Fund. The program has helped support drinking and water sanitation projects, river restoration, and reforestation efforts, in addition to renewable energy projects.