As India plans to transition away from coal for its energy demand, it needs to look for alternative revenue and livelihood sources for those associated with the industry, especially states for whom coal forms a major part of their revenues, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) said in two working papers on Thursday.

TERI said that the diversification of revenue sources for such states and their workforce can be undertaken by establishing industrial parks, solar parks, and battery energy storage projects.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), coal consumption in India is projected to peak from 2030-2035, after which there will be a decline. However, as the papers point out, close to 1.2 million people in India are dependent on the coal sector, of which 355,000 are employed in coal mines.

While a transition towards sustainable forms of energy is much warranted, there is a growing concern related to labour displacement in the existing coal value chains, TERI said.

To mitigate the fallout of loss of such a huge source of revenue, the papers suggest the promotion and diversification of the industrial establishment of coal-bearing states away from the traditional reliance on coal revenues. This would help promote enhanced levels of economic activity, large-scale employment integration and address the missing industrial gap in the economy, TERI added.

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