Coal‑Heavy Power Boosts Indian City Pollution and Deaths Amid Rising Electricity Use

Rising electricity demand in India has driven a sharp rise in coal‑fire power generation, boosting city air pollution and adding roughly 200,000 premature deaths between 2000 and 2020.

What Happened

India's per‑capita GDP climbed from about $600 in 2000 to over $2,000 in 2020, while electricity use jumped from roughly 450 TWh to almost 2,000 TWh. Access rose from 60% to more than 95% of the population. Coal supplied 75.9% of electricity in 2020, and the country added 182 new coal plants after 2000 on top of 71 built earlier. Burning coal released sulfur dioxide that formed sulfate, raising its share of urban aerosol from 35.5% to 46.4% and lifting aerosol optical depth from below 0.2 to above 0.4. Modelled data show the power sector’s share of city aerosol grew from 16% to 36%, with power‑sector PM2.5 increasing about 400% and industrial PM2.5 about 90% over the same period.

Reaction

Dr Basudev Swain of the University of Oxford said the study highlights a dual story: higher incomes cut indoor cooking smoke but the electricity that powers modern life now comes largely from dirty coal. He warned that cleaner power is needed to protect health gains.

Context

Coal‑heavy electricity is common in fast‑growing economies because it is cheap and abundant, but it creates fine particulate pollution that harms lungs and heart, especially in densely populated northern and eastern Indian cities.