US President Donald Trump’s support for fossil fuels, including coal, continues in his second stint.

Any attempt by climate advocates to retire coal from the energy space will be a distant dream, at least for now.

“After years of being held captive by Environmental Extremists, Lunatics, Radicals, and Thugs, allowing other Countries, in particular China, to gain tremendous Economic advantage over us by opening up hundreds of all Coal Fire Power Plants, I am authorizing my Administration to immediately begin producing Energy with BEAUTIFUL, CLEAN COAL.” — @TrumpDailyPosts.

This and his subsequent decisions created a flutter and revived the debate between coal producers and climate advocates. While India and the US are sorting out the tariff issues, coal is one issue where the two nations can be on the same page.

Will this posturing by Trump turn into an advantage for New Delhi, which has been under constant pressure to reduce coal usage, and look at re-inventing its thermal plants or put them on a retirement mode? Though India has remained firm on the use of coal, how can it leverage this narrative to strengthen its position?

“For India, the direct implications of this policy are limited, as India’s coal imports from the US have been relatively modest. But any shifts in global energy markets resulting from the US policy changes could influence India’s energy strategy, especially as it balances fossil fuel use with renewable energy goals,” says Tracy Shuchart, Senior Economist, NT-Live/ NinjaTrader Group, LLC.

Coal outlook

According to the outlook for coal sector by S&P Global Commodity Insights for 2025, “Polarisation and geopolitical rivalry between China and the West are becoming more pronounced. China is leveraging its leading position in clean technology for greater global influence, while the US and Europe enhance tariffs to protect domestic industry.”

In 2025, S&P Global Commodity Insights expects Chinese renewable installations to slow down marginally, but remain well above 250 GW, and coal-fired generation in China will once again be higher year-on-year and hit a new record.

“In several other developing economies, coal demand will continue to move higher in 2025, but most notably in India, where the growth in renewables supply is dwarfed by growth in electricity demand,” it said.

Though India has been under pressure to shift to other energy resources, coal has been the main fuel for electricity generation here.

On March 19, Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, informed the Lok Sabha that “During the financial year 2024-25 (till February, 2025), 764.56 million tonnes (Provisional) of coal has been dispatched to the power sector, while the overall coal consumed in domestic coal-based power plants during the same corresponding period is 757.70 million tonnes (Provisional).”

According to data, India’s coal production has been consistently increasing each year. For FY25 India has already exceeded 1 billion tonnes, driven by a surge in output from commercial mines, of which, 75 per cent is Coal India Ltd’s (CIL’s) share.

The increase in domestic coal production has reduced coal imports in recent months. The strong domestic supply has diminished the appeal for buyers to opt for imported coal amid currency depreciation.

The Coal Ministry has launched ‘Mission Coking Coal’ to enhance domestic coking coal production and reduce its import.

To enhance washing capacity of coking coal for steel industry, CIL is augmenting capacities by introducing new washeries, renovating some existing ones and monetising some of the older ones.

By financial year 2030, under the current plan of capacity expansion CIL is expected to produce around 10 million tonnes per annum of washed coking coal at an ash percentage of 18.

Of the 11 new coking coal washeries planned, three have been commissioned. Eight more are in the pipeline, of which, two are under construction and the rest are in various stages of progress.

Clean coal research

Recently, CIL entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IIT-H) for establishing a Centre of Clean Coal Energy and Net Zero (CLEANZ) at Hyderabad with an aim to develop clean coal technologies and diversification in coal utilisation. The Coal Ministry has been promoting development of research capabilities in the coal sector.

On CLEANZ, an official statement had said that it envisions net zero utilisation with special emphasis on low grade and rejected coal.

Areas which CLEANZ will look at are enhanced coal bed methane and coal mine methane recovery, carbon capture technologies, coal gasification and syngas utilisation, energy efficiency and conservation, artificial intelligence and machine learning, among others.

While Trump has sent a clear signal to the climate advocates, his message has also created some uncertainty on financing of projects particularly for the developing world.

But, for India this may not be an issue as it has adequate coal stocks. Besides, any investment in developing a mine is long term and India’s power sector is heavily reliant on coal.

Now that Trump has blown the coal bugle, India can use that to its advantage by integrating the existing transmission networks with other energy sources and create storage facilities.

Published on March 24, 2025