Five Steps Towards Compliance With India's New Emissions Norms

Renewable energy is essential to sustainably powering future growth; in the present however, when most of India’s energy comes from coal, this is where our cleaner energy conversations need to focus.

- Sachin Deole

About 60 per cent of India’s installed power capacity is coal-based. India’s power sector will remain dominated by coal over our 10-year forecast period, with coal making up a share of just less than 70 per cent to the total power generation mix by 2026. This is set to increase to 70 per cent in 2026, according to BMI Research. And now, for the first time, all of this capacity new and existing assets – has to meet emission standards for Sulphur dioxide (SO2), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and mercury. In addition, there are significantly tighter standards for pollutants such as particulate emissions. The deadline for compliance is December 2017. The cost of compliance, according to the Association of Power Producers, could be as much as Rs 2.5 trillion. India’s power sector will remain dominated by coal over our 10-year forecast period, with coal making up a share of just less than 70 per cent to the total power generation mix by 2026.