Global investors move to renewable as coal demand dips in India

By Vishal Gulati New Delhi, Feb 16 : Two reports on Tuesday looked into coal demand in India’s electricity mix and global financial flows moving to renewable energy industry.
A week earlier, International Energy Agency’s (IEA) India energy outlook said India would need a massive investment of $1.4 trillion if it were to aim for net zero by mid 2060.
Much of this could come in from estimated savings due to reduced oil import bills. However, in addition to this, India could very well attract international investors.
The two new reports, one by IEEFA highlights various pull factors that make India’s renewable energy sector attractive for foreign direct investments and another by energy think tank Ember reveals India’s coal power has continued to decline since reaching a peak in 2018.
The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has looked at the number of new foreign direct investments coming into India’s renewable energy sector and highlights that close to $500 billion worth of investments would be needed if India were to reach 450 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy by 2030.
Ember’s analysis says coal share in the electricity mix has been declining and if India sticks to its electricity policies as laid out in its five-year National Electricity Plan (2018) then coal will see a continued decline as more renewable energy capacity is added.