India coal generation surges 25.7% in October amid El Nino
India's coal power generation shot up by 25.7% in October 2026, marking its fastest growth in three years.
Coal now makes up 71.7% of the country's electricity, a jump from September, as weaker rainfall, driven by the El Nino weather pattern, caused hydropower output to drop sharply.
With less water for hydroelectricity, the country leaned heavily on coal to keep lights on and factories running.
India rushed coal as solar soared
The spike came as industries needed more power, which left over half of India's coal plants running on low fuel reserves, so the government rushed extra coal supplies to avoid outages.
On a brighter note, renewable energy also grew: solar power soared by 62%, helping renewables overall rise by 34.7%.
Still, because total electricity use was so high, clean energy's share slipped from 17% in September to about 15% in October.