India's fossil fuel consumption flatlines as renewables surge

Solar capacity rose 40% year on year to 43.6 gigawatts.

India's fossil fuel consumption saw no overall growth in 2025 for the first time, even as fossil fuels still accounted for 93% of its total energy supply — the lowest share on record.

In a report, Energy Institute said coal remained the dominant source at 59% of supply, followed by oil at 28%. Growth across fuel types was minimal or negative as gas consumption fell 5.9%, coal grew just 0.6%, and oil grew only 0.3%.

Total energy supply stood at a baseline of 38.8 exajoules in 2024.

Milder monsoon-season temperatures cut cooling demand and slowed electricity demand growth, the report found.

Combined with record wind and solar generation growth and strong hydro output, this drove coal generation down 3% and gas generation down 15%.

Behind-the-metre solar capacity rose 40% year on year to 43.6 gigawatts — the largest such increase recorded anywhere outside China in 2025.

Limited transmission infrastructure, however, constrained further renewables integration despite rapid capacity growth over the past five years.

On the supply side, gas production fell 1.1 billion cubic metres (3.5%), whilst gas imports dropped 3 billion cubic metres (7.9%). Imports still covered 53% of India's gas needs, with 60% of that coming from Qatar and the UAE.

India imported 90% of its crude oil in the absence of significant domestic reserves. Russia supplied a third of those imports, the largest single source, with a further 48% coming from the Middle East. Domestic oil production fell more than 1% in 2025.

Despite its import dependence on crude, India's refining capacity made it a net exporter of refined oil products, with Europe and other Asia-Pacific markets as the top destinations.