India attacks restrictions on Western investment into coal-fired power generation

• 8 years ago (2016-05-03)
• David Flin

Europe 1061 North America 999

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Piyush Goyal, India’s Energy Minister, has attacked western restrictions on investing in foreign coal-fired power projects, saying that this will hinder efforts to tackle climate change. He said that tighter rules imposed on spending in coal-fired power stations by lenders in the USA and Europe were undermining efforts to install cleaner and more efficient equipment that produces fewer emissions. He claimed that efforts to shut off foreign cash from India’s coal industry were counter-productive, because they were forcing generators to keep ageing plants in service.

Goyal said: “If I don’t get enough capital, I won’t be able to replace them with energy-efficient plants or less polluting plants. I will continue to spew carbon into the atmosphere. It’s counter-productive because I want to replace all my old plants, which are 30-40 years old, with new super-efficient plants.”

In 2013, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and some European investment banks tightened investment in overseas coal projects unless they included carbon capture and storage equipment. Deutsche Bank, Commonwealth Bank, and Standard Chartered Bank have all withdrawn from coal projects.