Polluting, expensive: No end in sight to price India pays for imported coal

With domestic production targets slipping, India needs to buy record quantities of the world's most polluting fuel at a time when prices are rising

India always faces a Hobson’s choice as far as feeding coal-fired generators goes — even if the government is reluctant to admit it.

The country cannot do without shipping in the world’s most polluting fuel from overseas. And it will continue to do so unless it decides to reduce demand by forcing citizens, farmers and businesses to live without electricity for part of the day, or use diesel generators to fire facilities. Given that India imports over 85 per cent of its crude oil needs, that’s not much of a choice, either.

India needs over a billion tonnes of coal to meet