Analysts are worried about India's climate change pledge as it increases coal production to meet a rise in demand.
For more than a month, Sandeep Mall's engineering goods factory next to the Indian capital, Delhi, has been facing crippling power cuts, sometimes up to 14 hours a day.
That happens when he fires up diesel-powered generators to keep the factory running. He says it is three times as expensive to run it on diesel than what he pays to the local power transmission authority. India is the world's second-largest producer and consumer of coal. The fossil fuel keeps the country's lights on: three-quarters of the electricity produced uses coal. India sits atop the world's third-highest reserves of coal and boasts of the world's largest coal mining company but per person consumption is still modest.
An earlier-than-expected searing heatwave - average temperatures in April in northern and central India were the highest in more than 120 years - has pushed demand for electricity to record levels. This came on top of an uptick in demand following the reopening of the economy after two years of pandemic lockdowns.
The government says it is doing all it can do to ensure supplies. Coal India, the world's largest coal miner, has increased production by 12%, "strengthening India's energy security", according to the federal coal ministry. It also despatched 49.7 million metric tonnes of coal to the power generating companies in April, a
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