India's power sector hit a historic milestone: coal generation did not grow for two years even as electricity demand rose 7%. Clean energy covered the entire 63 TWh increase, with solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear adding 70 TWh. This is the first time in over 50 years that coal has not expanded during a period of demand growth. New solar capacity of 77 GW led the buildout, while coal plants ran fewer hours despite 8.5 GW of new coal capacity. Imported coal use fell 38% and gas use fell 35%. The trend is concentrated in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu, which boosted clean generation while cutting fossil output. Storage investment is ramping up, with tenders for 272 GWh of battery and pumped hydro capacity. India's oil and gas consumption also flattened, and ethanol blending reached 20% five years early. While the country's net zero target is 2070, these power sector numbers show that decarbonization can happen faster than many analysts projected, driven by solar economics and storage deployment.
