Conventional Energy: Coal, Oil, Gas, Hydro and Nuclear

Energy is a staple of GS. Learn each source with its leading states, major fields, plants and recent capacity. India's total installed power capacity is about 450 GW in 2025, of which non-fossil is nearly half. Check the CEA (Central Electricity Authority) monthly report for the latest.

Coal

• Largest fossil fuel for power (about 70 percent of electricity from coal in recent years).
• Types: Anthracite (best, over 90 percent carbon, in J&K only in small amounts), Bituminous (80-90 percent, best commonly used coal; Jharia), Sub-bituminous, Lignite (brown coal, 40-55 percent carbon), Peat (lowest).
• Gondwana coal (about 98 percent of reserves; Permian age, 250 million years; Damodar, Mahanadi, Godavari, Narmada valleys) and Tertiary coal (Assam, Meghalaya, J&K, Arunachal; high sulphur, 15-60 million years).
• Leading states by reserves: Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh. By production: Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh (Odisha and Jharkhand compete).
• Coalfields: Jharia (Dhanbad, the best coking coal), Raniganj (West Bengal; oldest), Bokaro, Karanpura, Giridih (Jharkhand), Talcher (Odisha), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Singrauli (MP and UP), Singareni (Telangana), Neyveli (lignite, Tamil Nadu), Kalakot (J&K).
• Coal India Limited (CIL), Kolkata; Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).
• Nationalisation: coking coal 1971-72; non-coking 1973.
• Commercial mining was opened to private firms in 2020.

Petroleum

• Sedimentary basins with oil: Mumbai High (Bombay High) offshore (largest, discovered 1974), Assam (Digboi, the first oil well in 1889; Naharkatiya, Moran), Gujarat (Ankleshwar, Kalol, Cambay), Krishna-Godavari basin, Cauvery basin, Rajasthan (Barmer, Mangala).
• India imports about 85-88 percent of its crude oil needs.
• Refineries: about 23 in the country; Jamnagar (Reliance, world's largest refining complex), Koyali (Gujarat), Mathura, Barauni, Guwahati (the first public sector refinery, 1962), Digboi (the oldest), Panipat, Paradip, Kochi, Mangalore, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Bina, Bathinda, Numaligarh.
• ONGC (1956), Oil India Limited (1959).
• Strategic Petroleum Reserves: Visakhapatnam, Mangalore, Padur (Karnataka); about 5.33 MMT total capacity.

Natural gas

• Fields: KG basin (D6), Mumbai High, Cambay, Tripura, Rajasthan, Cauvery.
• HBJ pipeline (Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdishpur) 1,700 km; GAIL (India) runs most gas pipelines.
• LNG terminals: Dahej, Hazira, Kochi (Puthuvype), Dabhol, Ennore, Mundra and Dhamra.
• City gas distribution, CNG and PNG; National Gas Grid.
• The share of gas in India's energy mix is about 6 percent; target is 15 percent by 2030.

Hydroelectricity

• India's potential is about 148,700 MW at 60 percent load factor (the Central Electricity Authority); Arunachal Pradesh has the largest unexploited potential (Brahmaputra tributaries), followed by Himachal, J&K, Uttarakhand, Sikkim.
• Major hydro stations: Tehri (Uttarakhand, Bhagirathi), Bhakra-Nangal (Sutlej, Himachal-Punjab), Koyna (Maharashtra), Srisailam (Telangana and Andhra), Nagarjuna Sagar, Sardar Sarovar, Indira Sagar (Narmada), Kishanganga, Baglihar, Salal, Dul Hasti, Uri, Pakal Dul, Kiru, Ratle in J&K, Subansiri Lower in Arunachal and Assam, Teesta in Sikkim, Nathpa Jhakri (Himachal, Sutlej).
• The Indus Waters Treaty (1960) governs use of the Indus system rivers; India placed the treaty "in abeyance" in April 2025 (check the latest status).
• NHPC (National Hydroelectric Power Corporation, 1975), SJVN, NTPC (thermal).

Nuclear power

• Three-stage programme (Homi Bhabha): Stage 1 PHWR using natural uranium; Stage 2 fast breeder reactors using plutonium; Stage 3 thorium-based reactors.
• Nuclear plants: Tarapur (Maharashtra, the first, 1969), Rawatbhata (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (UP), Kakrapar (Gujarat), Kaiga (Karnataka), Kudankulam (Tamil Nadu, Russian VVER reactors; the largest), Mahi Banswara (Rajasthan, planned).
• Installed capacity is around 8.8 GW (2025) with a target of 100 GW by 2047 (announced).
• NPCIL operates plants. The Atomic Energy Act 1962; the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act 2010; reforms to allow private participation were announced in 2025 (check the latest law).
• The India-US civil nuclear deal (2008).

Thermal power

• Biggest in capacity. Leading states by thermal capacity: Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha.
• Super thermal power stations: Singrauli, Korba, Talcher, Farakka, Vindhyachal (the biggest by installed capacity, MP), Mundra (the largest private, Gujarat; also an Ultra Mega Power Project), Sasan, Rihand.