The key challenges faced by the coal-power sector in India – significantly enhancing generation to meet the needs of a growing economy and to increase energy access while looking ahead at the climate mitigation issue – require a rethink of the country’s coal-power technology trajectory. An explicitly “bifurcated” technology strategy, wherein using imported coal with high-efficiency global technologies (adapted to Indian operating conditions), will serve as a complement to the existing pathway of adapting such technologies for Indian coals. A successful deal between Annex I countries and India for increase in coal imports and expanding technological options may set a model for constructive North-South collaboration on climate change.