India nearly doubled its planned coal mining capacity in 2025, fuelling a global rise in proposed coal mine developments, a report by Global Energy Monitor showed.
India’s proposed coal mine capacity rose to 638 million metric tons per annum (mtpa) from 329 mtpa a year earlier, accounting for almost all of the growth in the global coal project pipeline, which expanded 11% to 2,521 mtpa.
The increase highlights New Delhi’s efforts to boost domestic coal production to meet rising power demand, even as renewable energy capacity expands rapidly and analysts expect global coal demand growth to slow.
The increase in planned capacity comes despite International Energy Agency forecasts that global coal demand will plateau by 2030. Wind and solar overtook coal in the global electricity mix for the first time in 2025, the U.S.-based energy research group said.
Most of India’s proposed new capacity is concentrated in the eastern states of Jharkhand and Odisha, as the government targets coal production of nearly 1.15 billion metric tons in fiscal 2025/26 and 1.5 billion tons by 2030.
However, the rapid growth in planned mining capacity could leave producers exposed if coal demand weakens faster than expected, the report said.
While coal mine proposals increased, new capacity additions fell nearly 40% in 2025 to 113 mtpa, driven by declines in China and Australia, the report said.
(Reporting by Sethuraman NR. Editing by Mark Potter)
