His ministry's calculations, which predate China's announcement, allegedly show that such emission-curbing steps could reduce the carbon intensity of India's economy by around 25% by 2020 compared with 2005 levels.

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The coal sector can maintain its pertinence, he insists, but only if it pursues a new path by embracing investments in coal gasification and carbon capture and sequestration tools that improve efficiencies and reduce emission levels, all of which would give coal leverage in competitive energy markets.

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Extensions to such power stations' lives were originally agreed in order to meet anticipated power shortages and to reduce the use of fossil fuels to help meet different countries' carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions commitments.

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