Report
The Future of Geothermal in India Powering Economic Growth and Prosperity with Abundant Domestic Energy
Karthik Ganesan, Ushashi Datta
May 2026 | Technology Futures
Overview
India’s energy challenge is shifting — from simply producing more power to managing when and how energy is used, even as dangerous heat waves grow more frequent. To sustain rapid growth while meeting decarbonisation goals, India must diversify beyond solar, wind, and hydropower and adopt firm, clean energy sources that deliver round‑the‑clock reliability.
Geothermal energy offers exactly that. By harnessing heat stored within the Earth’s crust, it provides steady 24/7 thermal energy without storage, making it a practical alternative to coal. At the same time, many of the regions most vulnerable to heat stress sit atop geology ideally suited for geothermal cooling, positioning the resource as both an energy security solution and a resilience tool for communities.
This study identifies where geothermal heat, cooling, and electricity can scale first; outlines policy pathways to unlock this potential; and highlights environmental, workforce, and legal considerations to ensure secure projects this decade. Large-scale deployment of geothermal could improve air quality, reduce fuel imports, and create 350,000–700,000 jobs by leveraging India’s strengths in drilling, geoscience, and engineering. It would also expand access to cooling — a public health and productivity priority — without proportionally increasing electricity demand.
Key Highlights
- Geothermal could create 350,000–700,000 jobs across drilling, construction, operations, and maintenance.
- Direct‑use applications reduce fuel consumption by as much as 80%, and can also boost agriculture through greenhouse heating, aquaculture, and crop drying. For example the Tapri Geothermal Cold Storage Project facility in
- Himachal Pradesh is using geothermal energy to help relieve farmers from the challenges of seasonal variability and improve resilience for farming communities.
- Geothermal facilities have a small footprint, requiring far less land and transmission build‑out than most other energy sources.
- Compared with coal-fired power plants of similar size, geothermal plants can cut sulfur emissions by up to 97% and carbon dioxide emissions by up to 99%.
- Geothermal district cooling offers a powerful low-carbon alternative that can help India meet its growing and urgent cooling needs—with an estimated 610 gigawatts of total cooling potential in areas at high risk for heat events and a total capacity of about 1,500 gigawatts across the country. For example states like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Tripura, and Meghalaya can potentially benefit the most from district-scale geothermal cooling infrastructure.
