Uttar Pradesh: A State Critical for India’s Energy Transition

This report analyzes the energy transition in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India, highlighting the state's struggle to meet renewable energy targets despite its significant role in India's total power demand. The authors argue that UP's heavy reliance on coal-fired power creates financial and operational vulnerabilities, and they propose reforms for the state's distribution companies (Discoms) to facilitate a shift toward solar and biomass energy.

• Uttar Pradesh is significantly lagging behind other high-demand Indian states in meeting its 2022 renewable energy (RE) targets. As of October 2021, the state had achieved only 30% of its 14.1GW capacity commissioning target, the lowest among the top six power demand states in India.
• The state's electricity sector is dominated by coal, which provided approximately 90% of in-state generation in FY2020/21. This dependence is reinforced by a pipeline of 7.3GW of coal-fired capacity under construction and another 3.3GW in permit stages, the highest in India.
• Heavy reliance on coal has left Uttar Pradesh vulnerable to supply chain disruptions. In October 2021, coal shortages forced the state to purchase emergency power from the open market at rates as high as Rs22/kWh, which is three times the cost of its most expensive contracted coal power tariff.
• To meet its 2030 target of 23.5GW of solar capacity, Uttar Pradesh must add an average of 2.5GW of solar every year. Achieving this target would allow the state to meet the majority of its future electricity demand growth—estimated at 47 TWh by FY2029/30—without building new coal plants beyond those already under construction.
• The financial health of Uttar Pradesh's distribution companies (Discoms) is severely compromised by high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, which reached 37% in FY2020/21. In FY2019/20, Discoms incurred a loss of Rs4,917 crore despite receiving Rs10,120 crore in tariff subsidies.
• Progress toward solar targets is being hindered by the cancellation of previously awarded power purchase agreements (PPAs) by the Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency (UPNEDA) in an attempt to secure lower tariffs.

APA

Shah, K., & Lolla, A. (2021). Uttar Pradesh: A State Critical for India’s Energy Transition. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/09/Uttar-Pradesh_A-State-Critical-for-Indias-Energy-Transition_December-2021.pdf

Chicago

Shah, Kashish, and Aditya Lolla. Uttar Pradesh: A State Critical for India’s Energy Transition. Ember, 2021. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/09/Uttar-Pradesh_A-State-Critical-for-Indias-Energy-Transition_December-2021.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Shah |first1=Kashish |last2=Lolla |first2=Aditya |title=Uttar Pradesh: A State Critical for India’s Energy Transition |publisher=Ember |date=December 2021 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/09/Uttar-Pradesh_A-State-Critical-for-Indias-Energy-Transition_December-2021.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{shah2021uttar, author = {Shah, Kashish and Lolla, Aditya}, title = {{Uttar Pradesh: A State Critical for India’s Energy Transition}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2021}, month = dec, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/09/Uttar-Pradesh_A-State-Critical-for-Indias-Energy-Transition_December-2021.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }