Economy

India is the world’s second-largest producer and consumer of coal, with Coal India Limited being the largest coal-producing company globally. India is endowed with the world’s fifth-largest coal reserves of over 400 billion tonnes. Leveraging these resources through coal gasification can significantly transform the country’s industrial landscape while reducing import dependence on critical feedstocks and chemicals.

Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Pralhad Joshi said India has carried out one of the world’s fastest and largest green energy transformations over the past 12 years. The statement was made in New Delhi during a workshop focused on strengthening the National Green Hydrogen Mission through state policies, industrial hubs and infrastructure planning.

Battery energy storage systems, or BESS, solve one of the biggest challenges in renewable energy. Solar power is strongest during the day, wind power varies with weather, and electricity demand often peaks in the evening. Storage bridges this gap by saving surplus power when generation is high and releasing it when the grid needs support. For a country adding renewable capacity at record pace, storage is becoming essential for reliability, flexibility and round-the-clock clean electricity.

This is an engineering milestone, an infrastructure milestone and an economic milestone. It shows how India is trying to reduce logistics costs, move more cargo by rail, cut dependence on diesel haulage, improve port connectivity and support cleaner freight movement. In a country where industrial growth, exports, e-commerce, manufacturing, agriculture supply chains and port-led trade are expanding together, freight railway modernisation is directly linked to economic competitiveness.