One Company, 352 Million Tonnes:Inside India's Power Sector Emissions

When we finished verifying emissions data for 32 of India's largest industrial companies, one number stopped us cold.

That's the annual carbon dioxide output of a single company: NTPC Limited, India's state-owned power giant. To put that in perspective, it is more than the combined verified emissions of every steel and cement company in our database — all 13 of them.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL, Jindal Stainless, Ambuja Cements, ACC, Dalmia Bharat — add all of their verified emissions together, and you still don't reach NTPC's number.

The Scale of the Problem

NTPC operates 75,958 MW of installed capacity, making it India's largest power producer. The vast majority of this runs on coal. Its emission intensity sits at 835 grams of CO₂ per kilowatt-hour, roughly double the global average for power generation (423 g/kWh in 2023, per the IEA).

In FY 2022-23, NTPC emitted 335.7 million tonnes. By FY 2023-24, that rose to 352.5 million tonnes — an increase of 16.8 million tonnes in a single year. That one-year increase alone is more than the total annual emissions of JSPL, one of India's top five steel companies.

Of the 971 million tonnes of annual CO₂ we track across verified companies in 6 sectors, NTPC alone accounts for 36%.

NTPC's annual emissions of 352 million tonnes are more than those of Tata Steel, JSW Steel, JSPL, Jindal Stainless, Ambuja Cements, ACC, and Dalmia Bharat — combined.

Two Companies, Same Capacity, Opposite Trajectories

But the most striking contrast in our data isn't between sectors. It's between two private power companies that are nearly identical on paper and radically different in practice.

Adani Power and Tata Power both operate roughly 15,000 MW of installed generation capacity. But the similarity ends there.

A note on comparability: Adani Power reports on a standalone basis for FY 2024-25. Tata Power reports on a consolidated basis for FY 2025-26 — a different fiscal year and a different boundary. We present both trajectories because the directional contrast is meaningful, but the absolute levels are not strictly like-for-like. Readers should weigh this.

Adani Power: The Fastest-Growing Emitter

Adani Power's verified emissions for FY 2024-25 stand at 86.4 million tonnes — making it India's second-largest corporate emitter after NTPC. Its entire fleet of 15,250 MW is coal-fired.

While earlier-year figures have not been independently verified against the original filing, the company's own ESG reports show a trajectory from approximately 49 million tonnes in FY 2022-23 to 72.9 million tonnes in FY 2023-24 — a pattern consistent with its aggressive capacity expansion.

If those earlier figures are accurate, Adani Power's emissions rose roughly 76% in two years.

Tata Power: The Sharpest Decline

Tata Power tells the opposite story. With comparable capacity of 14,700 MW, the company cut its emissions from 44.6 million tonnes in FY 2024-25 to 28.7 million tonnes in FY 2025-26 — a 36% reduction in a single year.

This is the largest verified single-year emissions decline of any company in our database. The cause is not yet established. Possible explanations include coal plant retirements, increased renewable generation, a change in consolidation scope, or lower plant load factors at Mundra. We have contacted Tata Power for clarification and will update this analysis when they respond.

Tata Power is also the only Indian power company with an SBTi-validated (Science Based Targets initiative) net zero commitment — targeting 2045, with a 70.5% reduction in Scope 1 intensity per MWh by FY 2037.

Two companies. Same installed capacity. One went up 76%. The other went down 36%. Different reporting years, different consolidation bases — but the directional contrast is stark.

The Net Zero Gap: 2035 to 2070

Every major emitter in our database has announced a net zero target. But these targets range from Reliance Industries' ambitious 2035 deadline to NTPC's 2070 — a 35-year gap.

The pattern is notable: NTPC, the single largest emitter at 352 million tonnes, has set a 2070 net zero target — matching India's national pledge rather than setting independent ambition. It carries no SBTi validation and publishes no binding interim milestones.

By contrast, Tata Power (2045, SBTi-validated), JSW Steel (2050, SBTi-validated), and Dalmia Cement (2040, carbon-negative target) have all submitted to independent scrutiny of their decarbonisation plans.

What the Numbers Mean

India's power sector dominates its industrial emissions profile. Of the 971 million tonnes of annual CO₂ we track across verified companies, power accounts for roughly half — led overwhelmingly by coal.

Three facts emerge from the data:

NTPC, Adani Power, and Tata Power were contacted for comment prior to publication. Any responses received will be incorporated into this analysis.