India needs cheaper, cleaner coal technologies

India's dependence on imported coal in the coming years will be significant in stimulating the country's economic expansion. India must work with other countries to introduce cheaper and cleaner coal technologies, as the country is expected to use the fuel to generate more than half of its capacity in the next two decades, the head of the World Coal Association said.

India, now the world's second largest importer of coal, relies on the fuel for about 78 percent to generate electricity. The Federal Research Center predicts that the share of coal in the country's total fuel balance will decline to 48-54 percent by 2040.

India will need to work with countries including the United States, Japan and Australia to get cheaper financing from multilateral development banks in order to have access to cleaner technologies and catch up with Japan and China, said Benjamin Sportn, executive director of the World Coal Association.

India, Asia's third largest economy, is gradually increasing the share of renewable energy in its energy mix. The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi aims to increase solar power generation capacity by almost 30 times to 100 gigawatts (GW) by 2022. This capacity has already increased more than three times in three years to over 12 GW, but Sportn expects coal demand in India to grow despite the companies offering low solar tariffs. Global coal production will also grow in 2017, led by the United States and China, he said.