IEW 2026: Coal to Remain Mainstay of Energy as India Looks to Triple Per Capita Energy Consumption
B. Sairam, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Coal India Limited, said coal will act as a bridge and enabler in India’s energy transition
Coal will continue to play a central role in India’s energy mix as the country works towards tripling its per capita energy consumption on the path to Viksit Bharat 2047, said Vikram Dev Dutt, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, at India Energy Week (IEW) 2026.
Addressing a leadership panel on “Coal’s evolving role in a secure energy mix: charting a balanced and pragmatic approach” on the Resilience Stage on the third day of the mega energy event, Secretary Dutt stressed the need for realism in discussions around energy transition.
“Coal is not going away in a hurry. For India, affordable and dependable baseload power is not a choice, it is an imperative. The mantra is not ‘phase out’, it is ‘phase down’ in calibrated steps that reflect ground realities,” he said.
He added that coal continues to underpin India’s development needs and will remain a key pillar of energy security even as renewable capacity expands in line with the country’s climate commitments.
Offering a global perspective, Kyle Haustveit, Assistant Secretary for Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy, noted that coal remains critical for energy security worldwide.
“Coal powered the modern world and it is not going away. Reliable, affordable and secure energy matters, and coal provides that stability, regardless of weather or market volatility,” Haustveit said. He highlighted strong potential for India–US collaboration in clean coal technologies, coal gasification, carbon utilisation, and bilateral trade in high-quality metallurgical (coking) coal.
From the industry side, B. Sairam, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Coal India Limited, said coal will act as a bridge and enabler in India’s energy transition.
“India’s per capita energy consumption is barely a third of developed economies. As this demand triples, coal will provide firm, dispatchable power while renewables and storage mature,” Sairam said, adding that higher domestic coal production can significantly reduce imports and save valuable foreign exchange.
Panelists also pointed to emerging opportunities in coal gasification, coal-to-chemicals and other clean coal technologies. Secretary Dutt said the government is actively supporting these initiatives through viability gap funding and pilot projects in both surface and underground coal gasification.
He further noted that revenues generated from coal can help finance green energy infrastructure, enabling a balanced and pragmatic energy transition while ensuring economic growth and energy affordability.
