India’s zombie threat

The report identifies 27 GW of planned coal power plants in India as "zombie" assets that are superfluous to the country's electricity requirements for FY 2030. It argues that India can meet both aggregate and peak demand growth through its existing construction pipeline and the expansion of renewable energy (RE) and battery storage. The analysis suggests that cancelling these projects would save Rs. 247,421 crore in capital expenditure and potentially reduce annual power purchase costs by Rs. 43,219 crore. The report warns that building these plants would lock consumers into expensive contracts, create stranded assets, and jeopardize India's target of 450 GW of RE by 2030.

• India does not need additional coal capacity beyond what is currently under construction to meet electricity demand growth by FY 2030. Even with an annual demand growth of 5%, coal-fired generation in FY 2030 would be lower than in FY 2020, provided non-coal generation targets are met.
• India can meet its projected FY 2030 peak demand of 301 GW without the 27 GW of "zombie" coal plants. This is possible through a combination of 188 GW of coal capacity (after retiring plants older than 25 years), 157 GW of other firm capacity including battery storage, and 420 GW of wind and solar.
• Cancelling the 27 GW of proposed "zombie" coal projects would free up approximately Rs. 247,421 crore (US $33 billion) in capital expenditure. This avoided investment would be distributed across the central (Rs. 142,855 crore), state (Rs. 41,654 crore), and private (Rs. 62,912 crore) sectors.
• Substituting the 27 GW of "zombie" coal plants with renewable energy and battery storage could result in annual power purchase savings of Rs. 43,219 crore (US $6 billion). Additionally, investing in 30 GW of battery storage would cost an estimated Rs. 109,800 crore, significantly less than the capex required for the coal plants.
• The 27 GW of "zombie" plants are primarily publicly owned and financed, with 15 GW in the central sector, 5 GW in the state sector, and 7 GW in the private sector. Major entities involved include NTPC, NLC, PFC, and the Adani Group.
• New coal plants are economically uncompetitive compared to PV and battery storage. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for "zombie" plants is estimated between Rs. 5.89 and Rs 9/kWh, whereas PV+storage is estimated at Rs. 3.3/kWh in 2025 and Rs. 2.8/kWh in 2030.
• Building these plants threatens India's 450 GW renewable energy target by creating generation overcapacity and locking distribution companies (DISCOMs) into expensive fixed-cost contracts, which makes new RE power purchase agreements less attractive.

APA

Lolla, A., Fernandes, A., & Raj, A. (2021). India’s zombie threat. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Indias-Zombie-Threat.pdf

Chicago

Lolla, Aditya, Ashish Fernandes, and Abhishek Raj. India’s zombie threat. Ember, 2021. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Indias-Zombie-Threat.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Lolla |first1=Aditya |last2=Fernandes |first2=Ashish |last3=Raj |first3=Abhishek |title=India’s zombie threat |publisher=Ember |date=September 2021 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Indias-Zombie-Threat.pdf |access-date=23 October 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 = sep, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2024/10/Indias-Zombie-Threat.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }