Workers load coal on a truck near an open-cast mine, on the outskirts of Dhanbad. (Amarjeet Kumar Singh / SOPA Imag via Reuters Connect)

India and a group of countries including the U.S. and Germany will not agree on a so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), a key international deal that was meant to promote the South Asian nation’s climate-friendly transition.

A German government official said that the two sides had agreed to not pursue the JETP any further, which would have included financial and technical support to help India move away from fossil fuels like coal.

Experts said that years of difficult negotiations had shown that India, the world’s most populous and increasingly energy-hungry country, was not interested in a deal focused on a coal phase-out, which could have pushed it to take on more debt. Instead, future cooperation should prioritise financing for renewable energy expansion.