India Shelves Coal Mining Target on Weak Demand

In 2015, Coal India was asked to double output to a billion tonnes by 2020, to fuel a rapid expansion of power generation.

One year later, the state-controlled miner is being reined in as surplus coal piles up, the Economic Times reports, citing a sector official.

Coal India and power stations have an estimated 21 days worth of fuel sitting in reserve. Big stockpiles become a fire hazard.

Power demand is increasing only 4-5% a year, not 7-8% as expected, an analyst from KPMG told the paper.

The apparent slowdown in coal use is significant both for emissions trends and for international coal markets.

While individual carbon footprints remain low, with a population of 1.3 billion India is the fourth largest emitter in the world, after the US, China and EU.

As China’s coal consumption starts to decline, all eyes are turning to India as the biggest driver of demand – and the associated greenhouse gas emissions.

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