Coal is an important part of India’s economic growth story. However coal mining in India also has a different cost, borne by the communities affected by these mines, who are rarely meaningfully informed or consulted when their land is acquired, their forests decimated, and their livelihoods jeopardised.

After two decades of breakneck growth in coal-fired power generation, power generation from coal finally slowed down in 2011 and turned into a decline in 2013, as a result of booming clean energy and slowing power demand growth.

Lung-penetrating dust from coal-fired power plants in the European Union claims some 23,000 lives a year and racks up tens of billions of euros in health costs, an NGO report said.

Investments to the tune of more than Rs 10 lakh crore would be required in coal mining and allied sectors like power, steel and cement to achieve the target of 1.5 billion tonnes of coal production by 2019-20, according to a report.

The water scarcity crippling large parts of India has already cost coal power companies nearly 7 billion units in lost electricity generation, with an estimated revenue loss of Rs. 2,400 crore in the first five months of 2016 alone, according to an analysis by Greenpeace India.