Three days earlier than India’s setting minister boarded a flight to Egypt for this 12 months’s UN local weather summit, Cop27, the nation’s finance minister was busy with a brand new announcement.

“India needs greater investment in coal production,” mentioned Nirmala Sitharaman on the Delhi launch of India’s greatest ever coalmine public sale, the place 141 new websites for coalmines can be offered off to the best bidder.

At a time when the world’s future hinges on a dramatic international discount of carbon dioxide emissions and international leaders are gathered in Sharm el-Sheikh to attempt to restrict the influence of the local weather disaster – with decarbonisation on the agenda – the Indian authorities is continuous on its greatest ever push for home coal manufacturing, even toying with the concept of manufacturing a lot it might grow to be a future coal exporter.

This was the sixth, and largest, such public sale the Indian authorities has held since 2020, when it privatised the coal business. Two-thirds of the 968 websites which might be allotted for mines, referred to as coal blocks, are on untouched land and plenty of sit below India’s most ecologically wealthy and fragile forests, and rural areas populated by tribal communities that can be destroyed if the brand new initiatives go forward.

“The worst part is that in order to open up more coal, the government is allowing mining in dense forested areas. Forests are sinks of carbon dioxide so if you are getting new coal to burn by chopping down forests, it’s a double whammy of environmental disaster,” mentioned Sudiep Shrivastava, a lawyer who has fought again in opposition to new coal blocks.

In Hasdeo Arand, a dense forested space within the state of Chhattisgarh, the place 23 coal blocks have been proposed and 7 accepted – which might wreak havoc on a few of India’s oldest and most biodiverse environments and displace 1000’s of tribal individuals – communities have been combating again in opposition to the mines.

According to anti-mining activists, opening up coalmines within the space is not going to solely result in the lack of 1000’s of hectares of forest land, but in addition have an effect on the move of the river, trigger air pollution and displace many villagers and tribal communities who dwell off the forests. In October final 12 months, a whole lot of villagers from the area marched virtually 200 miles on foot from their villages to the state capital, Raipur, to register a protest in opposition to the proposed coalmines.

On the worldwide stage, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has introduced himself as a staunch environmentalist, and talking on the G20 assembly on Tuesday, Modi mentioned: “India is committed to clean energy and environment.” Yet India has additionally made no secret of the truth that it would want coal for many years to return, even because it will increase its reliance on renewables and strikes in the direction of web zero in 2070.

It was some of the dramatic moments on the Cop26 local weather talks in Glasgow final 12 months when India, backed by China, made a last-minute intervention to water down the language of the ultimate settlement, altering the dedication to “phase down” quite than “phase out” coal energy. Coal at present accounts for 70% of electrical energy technology in India, whereas renewables depend for less than about 12%.

At Cop27 this 12 months, the Indian place has been to attempt to counter the stress to scale back its continued reliance on coal by pushing for an settlement to part down all fossil fuels, together with fuel, which Europe and the US are nonetheless closely depending on. India’s argument is that it’s unfair to single out coal – which is primarily utilized by growing international locations – whereas different fossil fuels broadly utilized in western international locations stay unsanctioned. Speaking on Monday, the setting minister, Bhupender Yadav, who’s representing India at Cop27, accused developed nations of “turning back to fossil fuels” because the power disaster hit.

Ashish Fernandes, the chief government officer of Climate Risk Horizons, which analyses the influence of the local weather disaster in India, mentioned: “It’s quite clear because of the west’s failure to live up to its commitments to undertake serious emissions reductions and to meet the promised financing commitments, India is using coal as a bargaining chip. It’s hard to criticise India’s plans for new coal when Europe is looking to build up so much more new gas.”

India is already on the forefront of the local weather disaster. This 12 months two-thirds of the nation suffered months of an unprecedented heatwave that decimated crops and livelihoods. There have been excessive climate occasions on 80% of days this 12 months.

Yet the Indian authorities’s place is that as a fast-developing nation, which is the world’s second-largest importer of coal, it’s vital within the identify of self-reliance and power safety for the nation to benefit from its personal huge home coal reserves, mentioned to be the fourth largest on this planet. As a traditionally low emitter of carbon emissions in contrast with the west, ministers declare it’s unfair to penalise such actions. Under plans promoted by Modi, India plans to extend its home coal manufacturing to a 1bn tonnes a 12 months.

In the 12 months since Cop26, the federal government says the scenario has grow to be much more urgent. India’s electrical energy demand soared post-Covid and international coal costs hit file highs due to inflation and the conflict in Ukraine, costing the federal government billions of rupees to import what was wanted.

In April, after the most well liked March in 122 years, the nation suffered a grave coal scarcity and a few coal-fired energy stations had lower than three days provide left, leading to rolling energy cuts.

Nivit Yadav, programme director on the setting thinktank Centre for Science and Environment mentioned: “You can’t avoid the fact that India still needs coal and we need to reduce our dependency on imported coal, which is becoming costlier by the day. Long term, we definitely want our reliance on coal to be reduced as much as possible but there is so much conflict around the world, India has to secure its energy.”

Yet environmentalists and thinktanks have argued that opening up a whole lot of latest coalmines throughout India is each environmentally devastating and pointless. Multiple research have proven that India’s present capability of coalmines and coal-fired energy stations are greater than sufficient to satisfy India’s rising electrical energy demand in the event that they function effectively.

The coal shortages that hit in April and May are mentioned to not have been because of an absence of home coal, however as an alternative poor planning by energy corporations, and evaluation confirmed that they might have been averted if there had been larger funding in renewables. India now produces the world’s most cost-effective solar energy, and costs will proceed to fall.

“India does not need more coal,” mentioned Fernandes. “There is no financial or energy requirement for new coal construction in India, this is all political.” He emphasised that India’s present coal energy technology was “suboptimal”, solely at present operating at about 60% capability, and if run correctly can be greater than sufficient to satisfy the electrical energy calls for of a fast-developing nation.

On common, India’s coalmines use solely two-thirds of the capability, with some massive ones utilizing only one%, in line with evaluation by Global Energy Monitor (GEM), calling into query the necessity to open up extra.

Fernandes mentioned such big new funding in coal now meant there was “a real chance that it will undermine the renewable energy industry” by tying India’s electrical energy sector right into a contractual dedication to coal for many years to return, at the same time as renewables are cheaper.

Earlier this 12 months, the International Energy Agency mentioned Modi’s coal enlargement plans have been “difficult to reconcile with India’s evolving energy needs and environmental priorities”.

There can be the problem that India’s coal, with its excessive ash content material, is notoriously polluting and inefficient to burn, requiring twice as a lot to provide the identical quantity of energy as imported coal. It can be tough to move. Many coal-powered fireplace stations are on the coast, particularly constructed to obtain sea shipments of imported coal, and are a whole lot of miles away from the central Indian states the place most of the coal blocks are positioned, placing big stress on passenger railway strains.

For environmentalists, one of many best issues is that the push for brand new coalmines is coming as India’s environmental laws are being watered down, significantly for energy infrastructure initiatives, whereas legal guidelines round coal “act like an implicit subsidy to coal development”, in line with a recent report by the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University. Currently coal blocks are auctioned off earlier than any environmental clearances are accomplished on the world.

For the brand new coalmine in Hasdeo Arand, native individuals allege the initiatives have been given all of the environmental clearances by the state authorities with out their constitutionally-bound consent and by utilizing fabricated paperwork.

“Once the forest is gone, the people will not only lose their livelihoods but also their heritage, their culture, their religion, because they worship the forests – but their voices have been silenced” mentioned Alok Shukla, an environmental activist who has been on the forefront of the group opposition to the brand new coal mines in Hasdeo Arand. “Tearing it down will also affect the monsoons as well because it disrupts the whole ecosystem. Tell me, what coal is worth that?”