A power and climate policy analyst based in Sagara, Karnataka, has written to the Union Finance Minister, with a copy to the Prime Minister, calling for a comprehensive review of India's long-term electricity investment strategy, arguing there is no credible economic case for building large amounts of new coal-fired power capacity.
In a detailed submission dated August 29, Shankar Sharma has urged the government to reconsider the scale of coal and nuclear capacity currently planned, saying decisions made now will lock in financial and environmental consequences for decades. He contends that power-sector planning should move away from historical assumptions about demand and coal availability, and instead be based on full economic costs, climate risk, public health impacts and the falling costs of renewable energy and storage.
The letter references Central Electricity Authority projections showing thermal capacity requirements of roughly 3,07,000 MW by 2034–35, up from about 2,11,855 MW installed as of March 2023 — implying nearly 97,000 MW of new coal and lignite capacity over the period. It also cites the draft National Electricity Policy 2026's estimates of about ₹50 lakh crore in power-sector investment by 2032, rising to ₹200 lakh crore by 2047.
The submission leans heavily on the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, noting its findings that unabated coal use must fall 67–82% by 2030 in 1.5°C-consistent pathways, and that new investment in coal power without carbon capture is incompatible with holding warming to 2°C. It also flags the IPCC's warning that coal assets are among the fossil-fuel assets most exposed to becoming "stranded" — potentially trillions of dollars in losses globally.
Sharma's central case is financial as much as environmental: coal plants built today carry 30–40 year technical lifespans, but may lose economic competitiveness far sooner as solar, wind and battery storage costs keep falling. He warns this could leave generators, banks, distribution companies and both state and central governments exposed to stranded-asset risk, and calls for a shift to "full-system-cost" evaluation that accounts for health, water, land, environmental and climate costs alongside conventional capital and fuel costs.
The letter sets out specific requests to the government, including an independent review of proposed new coal and lignite capacity, mandatory climate-risk and water-security assessments for major projects, full-cost accounting in investment decisions, a national push for distributed renewable energy and rooftop solar, storage-integrated planning with a proposed mandate for energy storage on renewable projects above 100 kW, and an independent, publicly available assessment of alternative electricity pathways to 2050.
The representation asks the Finance Ministry to coordinate with the Ministry of Power, NITI Aayog and the Central Electricity Authority on the review, and stresses urgency given that further large-scale capital commitments to coal capacity are reportedly imminent. Sharma has enclosed a longer submission paper with supporting references, including reports from the IEA, IRENA, IEEFA, CREA and peer-reviewed literature.
There is no indication yet of a government response to the letter.
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