Coal is going to be back again as gas becoming unaffordable: FM Nirmala Sitharaman

Speaking about the global economic crisis, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that coal is going to be back again as gas has become unaffordable. In an annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, she cited Austria’s example and claimed that the western world was moving to coal.

“The Western world has seen countries moving to coal. Austria has already said, and today…they are going back to coal,” Sitharaman told the media. Russia has sharply curtailed natural gas shipments to Europe in retaliation for sanctions that the West put in place after it invaded Ukraine.

In late April, Russia cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland after they refused Moscow’s demand to pay for the deliveries in rubles, Russia’s currency.

Responding to a question on her remarks earlier, the finance minister referred to another news item about an old thermal power plant in the United Kingdom being refurbished to generate electricity.

“As a matter of fact, it is now reviving itself as a thermal unit. So, it’s not just India, many countries have gone back. And coal is now going to be back again because I think gas cannot be afforded. Or it is not available as much as you want,” Sitharaman said.

“And Europe, of course, has made a conscious decision that they can’t get any more gas from Russia, and they have to look for other sources. It’s not just us (India),” Sitharaman said.

Further, Sitharaman said that the government is keeping a watch on the growing trade deficit to check if there is a disproportionate increase in the gap against any one country.

India’s trade deficit with China widened in 2021-22 and continues to do so in 2022-23, the Ministry of Commerce data showed. In the financial year 2021-22 (FY22), the trade deficit was recorded at $72.9 billion, up nearly $29 billion from FY21’s figure of $44 billion. In 2020-21, the trade deficit was recorded at $48.6 billion.

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The finance minister said that the trade deficit is “growing”. “It is growing across the board, meaning we are importing a lot more than exports. And the net is definitely going against us. But, we’re also keeping a watch as to if there’s a disproportionate increase against any one country,” Sitharaman said.