Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday rebutted allegations made by a Congress unit in Kerala against him regarding the share of non-fossil fuels in India's energy mix.

The Congress unit in Kerala, in a post on X, called Vaishnaw a "liar" over his remarks that 45 percent of India's power generation capacity was from non-fossil fuels and claimed that over 74 percent of the country’s power generation was from fossil fuels. "If we add your 45 per cent, it will become 120 per cent. How confidently are you fooling your audience, Mr Reel Minister," the post read.

Vaishnaw pointed out that there was a difference between energy generated and power generation capacity. "Energy generated and power generation capacity are two different things. For example, a thermal power plant of 100 MW can generate more energy than a solar plant of similar capacity," the union minister said. The minister also shared a pie graph that showed coal-based power plants forming 47.29 per cent of the total 466 GW installed capacity for power generation.

Non-fossil sources, including solar, hydro, wind and nuclear, form 47.25 per cent of the energy mix.

Addressing a media conclave, Vaishnaw had said more than 45 per cent of India’s power generation capacity was from non-fossil fuels. He said Railways planned to achieve 100 per cent electrification of its network by this year.