Coal remains inextricably linked to the fabric of Indian society, powering everything from the humble roadside chai stall to the high-tech manufacturing of iPhones and semiconductors. According to the Financial Times, this dependency represents a profound national conundrum, as the world’s fastest-growing major economy relies on coal for 70 to 75 percent of its electricity. While coal has provided the illumination and energy required for rapid urbanization and connecting remote villages to the grid, it is simultaneously taking lives through severe air pollution that no citizen can escape. The scale of this industry is staggering, anchored by projects like the Gevra coal mine, the second largest in the world, which alone supplies nearly 20 thermal power plants across seven states. Beyond the power grid, the Financial Times highlights that an estimated 20 million people are dependent on the coal ecosystem for their daily livelihoods, making any sudden shift in energy policy a complex cultural and political challenge rather than a simple technical transition.
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India and the true cost of coal
The "true cost" of this reliance is most visible in the deteriorating health of the population, where air pollution contributes to approximately 1.5 million deaths annually in India. Chest surgeons report a terrifying transformation in the color of human lungs, comparing the long-term effects of toxin deposition to a "termite" that hollows out the body from the inside while the exterior remains seemingly intact. Because pollution is rarely listed as a primary cause of death on medical certificates—which instead cite secondary conditions like pneumonia—the crisis often lacks the policy attention it deserves. Furthermore, the physical extraction of coal involves chopping forests and destroying agricultural land, displacing thousands of small and marginal farmers who often have less than two acres of land and limited alternatives.
India’s path toward Net Zero emissions by 2070 is hampered by economic disparities and the high cost of cleaner alternatives. While wealthier nations transitioned away from coal using cheap natural gas made available through fracking, this remains an unduly expensive option for India, which lacks significant domestic gas reserves. Renewable energy capacity is growing, with the government aiming for 500 gigawatts of non-fossil fuel power by 2030, but the transition is complicated by geography; coal is concentrated in the East, while renewable potential is largely in the West and North. Experts interviewed by the Financial Times suggest that while coal-based power generation may decrease as a percentage of the whole, the absolute amount of coal used is unlikely to drop significantly in the next decade. Ultimately, the nation faces a precarious balancing act: it must sustain the energy needed for development without creating a "sick society" that is too unwell to benefit from its hard-won economic progress.
