No energy transition away from coal in near future, says Union Minister Pralhad Joshi

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Union Minister of Coal, Mines, and Parliamentary Affairs Pralhad Joshi has stated that the energy transition away from coal is not happening in the foreseeable future.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on March 28, the Minister informed that India's projected demand for coal is expected to increase by 63 percent from the current demand.

Therefore stakeholders involved in coal mining will not be facing any problems because 'as of now there is no scenario of energy transition away from coal.

Although the coal demand is yet to peak in the country, the Minister also apprised that India is pushing for renewable/non-fossil-based energy, but the share of coal in the energy basket is going to remain significant in years ahead.

In fact, the draft Economic Survey 2021-22 projects coal demand in the range of 1.3-1.5 billion tonnes by 2030.

Earlier in the day, Coal India also allayed fears of coal supply shortage saying that it is concentrating its efforts to meet the projected demand of the power sector on a priority basis.

The state-owned coal miner this fiscal till March 24 has supplied an all-time high of 528 million tonnes (MT) of coal to the country's power utilities.

This is 98.5 percent of the pro-rated demand of 536 MT projected by the Ministry of Power and the Central Electricity Authority.

"Coal India Ltd (CIL) allays the supply shortfall apprehension of the power sector and is concentrating its efforts to meet the projected coal demand of this regulated sector on a priority basis," the company said in a statement. CIL is focused on meeting its despatch commitment to the country's power stations as the supply numbers indicate.