Landmark 3% drop seen in 2025, but nation paid up to $75m for lost solar over 8 months

20260127 India Coal

A 3% drop in coal-fired energy generation last year was primarily driven by a record increase in clean power generation, according to analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images and Kosaku Mimura)

CHARU BAHRI

January 28, 2026 10:28 JST

RAJASTHAN, India — Inflexible coal power plants are limiting India’s ability to tap its growing renewables capacity, even as coal-fired energy generation declined in 2025 for the first time in half a century except once during the COVID-19 pandemic.