Use Of Coal In Odisha’s Angul Increasing; India Needs Over A Trillion Dollars In 30 Years To Move Away From Mining, Power: Study

By OB Bureau On Oct 15, 2024

New Delhi: In the next 30 years, India will require more than a trillion dollars, or 84 lakh crore at current rates, to transition away from coal mining and thermal power plants, estimates a first-of-its-kind study by environmental think-tank Forest. These costs will largely be required to close mines which produce 1,315 million tonnes per annum of coal cumulatively and to phase out coal-based thermal power plants which have a capacity of 237.2 gigawatts, said the new study.

The energy transition estimate did not include the investment cost of setting up new green energy plants and infrastructure, which alone is estimated to be in trillions of dollars. It also excluded costs of transitioning for industries such as steel and cement that use coal directly.

The other associated costs required to move away from the coal-dependent economy will include rehabilitation and repurposing of closed coal lines, using the closed mines for clean energy and crucially, supporting nearly 60 lakh workers who are dependent on the coal economy.

“The associated costs include rehabilitation and repurposing of 343,504 hectares (ha) of coal mining land, green repowering of 124,789 ha of land available at TPP (thermal power plant) sites,” the iForest (International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology) report said.

The study highlighted that there were 417 operational coal and lignite mines in India and that only 12 districts across nine states produced 72 per cent of the country’s coal and lignite. Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Angul in Odisha and Korba in Chhatisgarh alone accounted for 42 per cent of India’s coal.

The study divided the costs of transition into green energy costs and non-energy costs. Green energy costs accounted for nearly 52 per cent of the total costs and comprised the cost of building green energy plants, repowering existing thermal power plants through other sources of power and upgradation of the electricity grid.

About 48 per cent of the transition costs are non-energy costs such as “just transition costs”, which refers to supporting workers and communities dependent on coal to get livelihood alternatives and costs of economic diversification which can create green jobs.

Primary studies were carried out in coal-dependent districts of Korba, Angul, Bokaro and Ramgarh to understand and calculate the costs of transition, cost components and factors. “The methodology is based on a case study of these districts. They were selected as in some districts, such as Angul, coal use is increasing whereas in Bokaro it is going down. The detailed cost components for transition were developed on the year-long case studies and they were then extrapolated for the entire country,” Chandra Bhushan, Chief Executive Officer of iForest and one of the authors of the study told The Indian Express.

Currently, coal accounts for about 55% of India’s commercial energy requirements and coal-based thermal power plants produce more than 70 per cent of electricity. Besides, these two sectors employ a large number of workers directly and indirectly in various districts of India and also play a significant role in the growth and development of these districts.