Coal Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday said that demand for coal will continue for the next 2-3 decades with domestic per capita power consumption expected to double by 2040.
Speaking at the first investor conclave in Indore, Joshi reaffirmed that coal demand is going to stay at least for the next 25-30 years and that per capita power consumption is not even one-tenth as compared with some of the other developed economies. It is estimated that the per capita consumption is going to double by 2040 for which coal is the necessity, Coal Ministry said in a statement.
India’s per capita electricity consumption rose from 16 units in 1947 to 1,208 units in 2021.
The focus of the present government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to become a net zero carbon emission country by adopting better technological processes, he added.
Coal output
Emphasising the government’s commitment to increase coal production, Coal Secretary Amrit Lal Meena said the Ministry will extend any help required by the prospective bidders.
The Ministry has completed the successful auction of 64 coal mines in the first five tranches of commercial coal auctions. It has also launched the process for auction of 133 coal mines under 6th round of auctions and 8 coal mines under second attempt of the 5th tranche of commercial auctions where single bids were received in the first attempt.