India’s proposed coal mine capacity has more than doubled this year, accounting for almost all of the global increase, as the world shifts towards wind and solar energy sources, according to new reports.
India has sharply expanded its pipeline of proposed coal mines this year, driving most of the increase in global planned coal-mining capacity, according to a report by Global Energy Monitor. The organisation said India’s proposed coal mine capacity jumped to 638 million metric tons a year from 329 million tons a year earlier, even as the wider world continues to add wind and solar at speed.
Global Energy Monitor said the global coal project pipeline grew 11% to 2,521 million metric tons a year, with India accounting for nearly all of the increase. The report comes against a backdrop of slowing expectations for coal use overall, with the International Energy Agency forecasting that global coal demand will level off by 2030 and with wind and solar overtaking coal in the global electricity mix in 2025.
Most of India’s proposed new capacity is concentrated in Jharkhand and Odisha, where the government is seeking to lift coal output to nearly 1.15 billion metric tons in fiscal 2025/26 and 1.5 billion tons by 2030. The push underlines New Delhi’s determination to secure domestic fuel supplies for rising electricity demand, even as analysts warn that faster-than-expected weakening in coal use could leave miners exposed.
The report also said new coal capacity additions fell by almost 40% in 2025 to 113 million metric tons a year, with declines in China and Australia driving the drop. That was part of a broader picture in which openings of new coal mines hit a 10-year low, even though more than 850 mine plans, expansions and recommissioning projects remain under development across 30 countries, according to Global Energy Monitor.
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