Coal will remain at the heart of India’s energy strategy as the country seeks to triple per capita energy consumption on its journey towards Viksit Bharat 2047, senior government and industry leaders said at India Energy Week 2026.
Speaking at a leadership panel on the third day of the event in Goa, Vikram Dev Dutt, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, underlined the need for realism in discussions around energy transition, stressing that coal will continue to underpin India’s growth.
“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, addressing the session titled Coal’s evolving role in a secure energy mix: charting a balanced and pragmatic approach on the Resilience Stage.
Dutt added that coal would remain central to India’s development even as renewable energy capacity expands in line with climate commitments.
The global importance of coal for energy security was echoed by Kyle Haustveit, Assistant Secretary for Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy at the US Department of Energy.
“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,” he said. Haustveit pointed to strong potential for India–US collaboration in clean coal technologies, coal gasification, carbon utilisation and trade in high-quality metallurgical coal.
From an industry perspective, B Sairam, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Coal India Limited, said coal would serve as a critical bridge 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,” he said, adding that higher domestic coal production could curb imports and save foreign exchange.
Panelists also flagged new growth avenues in coal gasification, coal-to-chemicals and clean coal technologies. Dutt noted that government measures, including viability gap funding and pilot projects in surface and underground coal gasification, were accelerating adoption. Revenues from coal, he said, could also help finance green energy infrastructure, supporting a balanced and pragmatic transition.
