India’s Zombie Threat

A report by Ember and Climate Risk Horizons argues that India has 27 GW of planned coal power plants that are no longer necessary to meet electricity demand by FY 2030, labeling them "zombie" plants that threaten renewable energy goals.

• Analysis indicates that 27 GW of pre-permit and permitted new coal power plant proposals are superfluous and could become "zombie" plants—assets that are neither dead nor alive. These plants are not required to meet expected demand growth by FY 2030, even if demand grows by 5% annually according to the most optimistic IEA projection, provided non-coal generation targets are met.
• India can meet its projected FY 2030 peak demand of 301 GW (based on a 5% annual growth rate from CEA projections) without these zombie plants. If peak demand occurs during sunlight hours, planned solar capacity can cover it; if it occurs in the evening, battery storage is presented as a cheaper and more flexible alternative.
• Cancelling the 27 GW of unnecessary coal projects would free up approximately Rs. 247,421 cr (US $33 billion) in capital expenditure. Furthermore, substituting these plants with battery storage could result in annual savings of Rs. 43,219 cr (US $6 billion) through reduced power purchase costs.
• The persistence of new coal proposals is attributed to system inertia among regulators and both private and government coal power players, despite drastic changes in the economics of electricity generation over the last five years.

APA

Lolla, A., Fernandes, A., & Raj, A. (2021). India’s Zombie Threat. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/indias-zombie-threat

Chicago

Lolla, Aditya, Ashish Fernandes, and Abhishek Raj. India’s Zombie Threat. Ember, 2021. https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/indias-zombie-threat.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lolla |first1=Aditya |last2=Fernandes |first2=Ashish |last3=Raj |first3=Abhishek |title=India’s Zombie Threat |publisher=Ember |date=6 October 2021 |url=https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/indias-zombie-threat |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{lolla2021indias, author = {Lolla, Aditya and Fernandes, Ashish and Raj, Abhishek}, title = {{India’s Zombie Threat}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2021}, month = oct, url = {https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/indias-zombie-threat}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }