Understanding India’s likely energy future is important for both development planning and climate policy. This review of seven national energy and climate modelling studies finds energy use will increase substantially in the absence of additional policies: coal use may increase by 2.5-3 times current levels by 2030, electricity supply by 3-4 times, and greenhouse gases by 2-3 times. However, results diverge widely, even for reference cases, limiting their use for policymaking. Collectively, these studies also use high GDP growth rates and do not fully consider the implications on energy security and environmental concerns. India’s energy and climate planning would be well served by complementary analysis of specific sectoral actions.