One of the essential elements in the US-India bilateral relationship on energy has been cooperation on the use of coal in a clean manner. Supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Energy (DOE), laboratories, and utilities in the United States, the core of clean coal activities in India over the past several decades has been to introduce, demonstrate, and commercialize new technologies and practices to promote better utilization of coal in order to lower greenhouse gas and other pollutant emissions while promoting energy security.

Starting in the mid-1980s, the US team, in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Power, NTPC (previously, the National Thermal Power Corporation, India's largest state-owned utility), and several state utilities, has worked to improve the operations and performance of India's power plants. These have included coal beneficiation, heat rate improvement, optimal blending techniques, and the introduction of best Operations and Maintenance (O&M) practices. The DOE/USAID support for India’s research on advanced gasification of coal technology was also a part of the clean coal activities, which built capacity and demonstrated results, but awaits deployment. USAID's clean coal projects in India were designed to reconcile three key aspects, namely, the abundance of coal, need for energy, and sustainable energy utilization.