Shares of coal in total power capacity dropped below 50 percent for the first time since 1966, while renewable energy accounted for 71.5 percent of the record 13,669 megawatts (MW) power generation capacity added by India in the January-March period, according to a report.

According to the latest POWERup quarterly report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), this is well ahead of the Indian government’s target to establish 50 percent cumulative power generation capacity from non-fossil fuel-based sources by 2030.The decline mirrors a global trend, with demand for coal in G7 countries plumbing record lows in 2023, levels not seen since 1900, said IEEFA, JMK Research & Analytics and Ember, an energy think tank, in a joint press release.

Large-scale renewable energy projects in India have been the focus of intense interest, as evidenced by tender issuances crossing a record 69 gigawatts (GW), according to a report, Utility-scale renewable energy tendering trends in India, released this week by IEEFA and JMK Research. The tenders issued for utility-scale renewable energy projects in FY24 far surpassed the government’s seemingly ambitious target of 50GW, it said.