Energy companies go green, change tack from coal to renewables

Covid has brought to fore the need for sustainable development. A two-part series examines the shift in energy sector

For years, the first page of the investor presentations of NTPC, India’s largest power company, carried images of its mega thermal power plants. In the August 2020 presentation, those images were pushed to the side, and a photo of a sapling appeared, along with the tagline —‘generating growth for generations’. If imagery is anything to go by, this marks a major change in the business plans of the country's energy companies — from rampant capacity addition to sustainable development.

What’s driving the change is also the fact that global financers and lending agencies are reducing their exposure to fossil fuels.