Coal India Limited
NSE: COALINDIA10Greenwashing / Harmful· ProvisionalState-owned holding company and the world's largest coal producer by volume, responsible for over 80% of India's domestic coal output.
Why it's on ClimateTicker
Coal India Limited (CIL) is the world's largest coal producer by volume, responsible for over 80% of India's domestic coal output — its core business is the extraction and sale of thermal and coking coal, making it a direct and massive source of greenhouse gas emissions. While CIL has made incremental ESG disclosures, launched modest solar projects, and issued a qualitative net-zero ambition for 2050, these claims are structurally undermined by rising absolute emissions, a documented failure to meet domestic environmental regulations, active lobbying against stricter pollution rules, and no SBTi-validated or CDP-disclosed targets. Investors should treat this company as a climate laggard with high greenwashing risk, not as a credible sustainability story.
Commitments & Certifications
Controversy & Greenwashing Watch
Freedom-of-information documents revealed CIL sent letters to the Indian government between 2019 and 2023 pushing back against stricter fly ash disposal rules that protect communities from contaminated groundwater and air pollution, and in some cases successfully influenced regulators to ease the standards.source ↗
CIL carried approximately ₹70,889 crore in contingent liabilities as of March 2023, a significant portion related to unresolved environmental clearance claims, representing a material ongoing legal and financial exposure.source ↗
In a February 2024 report, CIL explicitly supported a sustained role for coal in India's energy mix through 'at least' 2040, a position directly misaligned with IPCC 1.5°C science-based pathways requiring rapid coal phase-down.source ↗
Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions increased year-on-year from 2023 to 2024 in absolute terms, directly contradicting CIL's stated commitment to reducing its carbon footprint and its qualitative net-zero ambition.source ↗
CIL did not respond to the 2023 CDP Climate Change Information Request, demonstrating a lack of commitment to independent, internationally comparable climate disclosure despite public sustainability claims.source ↗
India's Comptroller and Auditor General found that CIL subsidiaries operated mines without valid environmental clearances, failed to meet air and water pollution standards, and six of seven subsidiaries lacked board-approved environment policies as legally required.source ↗
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