A solar plant in Rajasthan, India. Jitendra Parihar / Thomson Reuters Foundation
India, a country of nearly 1.5 billion people, has long relied on coal to power its growing economy. But over the last two years, it has seen a remarkable shift: The rapid buildout of renewable energy has halted the growth of coal.
Coal output is no higher than it was two years ago, even though power demand has continued to surge, according to an analysis from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. After decades of growth, coal is finally hitting a wall in India. The result is that, since 2024, power sector emissions have stayed roughly flat.
Renewable energy, mostly solar, is meeting rising power demand. Over the last two years, India added enough renewables to power Switzerland, allowing it to meet a 7 percent growth in demand without ramping up coal.
Just a decade ago, solar power was scarcely used in India. Now, its solar capacity is growing by 40 percent a year, and the country is on the verge of becoming the first major nation to power its industrialization largely with solar.
Even though coal output has stagnated, India is continuing to add coal power plants. That means the cost of maintaining the fleet is rising even as the average coal plant runs for fewer hours.
And despite coal power flatlining, India still saw its overall carbon dioxide emissions tick up in the first half of this year, owing largely to the growing production of steel and cement, two sectors that are heavily reliant on coal.
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A First Among Major Nations, India Is Industrializing With Solar
