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Central Electricity Authority Chairman Ghanshyam Prasad has said that it is not true that India is not reducing coal-based power generation capacity in the energy mix and said the country is targeting over 64 per cent of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030. India has set the target of having 500GW of renewable energy by 2030. Coal-based power generation, however, ensures stable operation of the electricity transmission grid.

He said India's power infrastructure is mostly dominated by coal (based generation) as it constitutes more than 50 per cent in terms of capacity. In terms of output, the share of fossil fuel-based energy is 70 to 74 per cent. According to the latest Central Electricity Authority data, India has about 423 GW of power generation capacity, which includes 206GW coal-based capacity and around 7 GW lignite based.

He pointed out that India is already at 45 per cent (of non-fossil fuel based capacity) and reaching 50 per cent (renewable energy in energy mix) is not a challenge, but the country is targeting somewhere around 64 per cent-plus (non-fossil fuel based capacity) by 2030. The country has recorded its peak power demand at 234 GW on August 17, 2023. In December 2022, the power ministry has estimated the peak demand of 229 GW during this summer. The ministry has made it mandatory for plants using imported coal to run at full capacity and also asked domestic coal-based plants to import the dry fuel for blending to avoid shortage in view of high power demand