The mines were previously shut down because they were uneconomical, owing to reliance on \u201cmanual mining<\/a>\u201d and \u201csmall machines\u201d, he said. In December, India\u2019s coal ministry announced plans to bring closed mines back on line to increase production and reduce imports.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is now happening,\u201d Prasad said. The government had already awarded tenders for 27 of such mines this year and the remaining five were \u201cin the pipeline\u201d and would be granted soon.<\/p>\n Most demand for coal in the world\u2019s fifth-largest economy is met by local production, mainly by Coal India. The company has 310 mines operating across the country, supplying about three-quarters of national coal demand.<\/p>\n Despite big investments in solar and wind farms by local conglomerates such as Tata Group, India still relies on coal for 74 per cent of its electricity generation. The government forecasts that share will fall to 55 per cent by 2030 and to 27 per cent by 2047. <\/p>\n Investment in renewable energy in India totalled more than $13bn last year, far short of the $68bn needed annually to achieve the government\u2019s goal of producing 500 gigawatts of power from green sources by 2030, according to energy think-tank Ember. <\/p>\n Prasad said the state-run miner was sticking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s commitment for the country to reach net zero carbon emissions in less than five decades.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will reach peak coal by 2035, then it will flatten, then it will definitely come down by 2047 and be phased down by 2070,\u201d he said, explaining that a small amount of coal production would still be needed even then.<\/p>\n India holds the world\u2019s fifth-largest coal reserves and the\u00a0government\u00a0has said the fuel \u201cremains crucial\u201d. <\/p>\n The country, which is the world\u2019s fastest-growing major economy, has been resisting international pressure to move more quickly to reduce the use of the polluting fossil fuel. India is focusing on trying to become a manufacturing hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n In March, mining minister G Kishan Reddy said India had \u201cachieved a historic milestone\u201d by producing more than 1bn tonnes of coal in the fiscal year 2024-25, with output up 5 per cent compared with the previous year. <\/p>\n Prasad forecast that Coal India alone would top 1bn tonnes in output by 2029 after producing 781mn tonnes last year. The government expects overall domestic coal production to grow by 6-7 per cent annually to reach 1.5bn tonnes by 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Coal India chair said the energy needs of the country of 1.4bn people were \u201cvery high because of the growing aspirations\u201d and efforts to connect more homes to the electrical grid. To meet such demand, the company was preparing to open up to five new opencast mines on greenfield sites, he said. <\/p>\n Recommended<\/p>\n![\"PM](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/https:\/\/d1e00ek4ebabms.cloudfront.net\/production\/701aea47-fe3a-4959-a6ab-227e57904898.jpg\")
PM Prasad says India will reach peak coal by 2035 \u00a9 Coal India<\/p>\n
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