在贾坎德邦丹巴德（Dhanbad），煤炭不只是燃料，而是日常生计：拾煤者把煤块挑出、烘烧去杂再装袋贩售；像 60 岁的 Bhootni，每装满一袋只赚 100 卢比（略高于 1 美元），却足以换来一天的餐食。从铁路货运到路边小贩与矿场承包工，煤炭把整座城与周边村落绑成一条依赖链。

在全印度，煤仍是经济与政治的核心：全国近四分之三的电力来自煤，使印度成为仅次于中国与美国的第三大温室气体排放国。国营的 Coal India 供应约 80% 的国内煤炭，直接雇用约 217,000 名员工，并牵动超过 300,000 名产业退休金人口；其目标是在截至 2029 年 3 月的财政年度达到年产 10 亿吨。煤也占印度铁路约一半货运量，并以货运收入补贴每年约 70 亿人次的客运；然而该公司自 2010 年上市以来股价涨幅不到 60%，同期 Sensex 指数已上涨逾四倍。

摆脱煤的代价在煤带最清晰：印度可能把燃煤电厂新增期从原先的 2035 延到 2047。贾里亚（Jharia）因长年不良采矿而引发地表塌陷与地下煤火，火势已延烧约一个世纪；2009 年行动计划要治理 9 平方公里火区并安置居民，但官方称仍有约 1.5 平方公里在燃烧。非法流失的煤炭虽缺乏最新官方数据，但十年前估算已超过年产量的十分之一，约 15 亿美元；即便可再生能源快速扩张、过去十年新增太阳能规模仅次于中国与美国，像年产 1,500 万吨的大型露天矿与地方权力网仍让煤炭根深蒂固。

In Jharkhand’s Dhanbad, coal is not just an energy source but a daily wage: pickers sort and dry scraps into sacks for resale. A 60-year-old picker, Bhootni, earns 100 rupees per filled bag (a little over $1), enough for a day’s meal. From roadside scavengers to contractors and traders feeding rail-bound supply chains, livelihoods are organized around the fuel.

Nationally, coal still anchors India’s economy and politics. Nearly three-quarters of electricity comes from coal, making India the world’s third-largest greenhouse-gas emitter after China and the US. State-owned Coal India produces about 80% of domestic coal, employs roughly 217,000 workers directly, and supports more than 300,000 people on industry pensions; it targets 1 billion tons of annual output by the fiscal year ending March 2029. Coal makes up about half of Indian Railways freight and helps subsidize roughly 7 billion passenger trips a year, even as Coal India’s stock is up less than 60% since its 2010 listing while the Sensex has risen more than fourfold.

The social and environmental lock-in is stark across the coal belt. India may keep building coal plants until 2047, beyond an earlier 2035 target. In Jharia, a century of underground coal fires followed poor mining; a 2009 plan aimed to control 9 square kilometers and resettle residents, yet about 1.5 square kilometers still burn, by government accounts. With no recent official data, decade-old estimates put theft above one-tenth of Coal India’s output—around $1.5 billion—entrenching criminal and political interests. Renewables have surged, but 15‑million‑ton‑a‑year pits and the institutions coal finances keep the addiction in place.