<p>This study investigates the barriers that hinder coal-intensive industries in India from transitioning to solar energy. Given coal’s non-renewable nature and its eventual depletion, industries dependent on it must explore sustainable alternatives. The paper classifies and analyzes barriers under three categories—financial, governance and regulatory, and ecological—to establish their relative significance and interrelationships. An extensive literature review identified 21 barriers, which were refined to 14 through expert validation in the steel manufacturing sector. To analyze the interdependencies and causal linkages among these barriers, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method was employed. Within financial barriers, the lack of efficient energy storage systems emerged as the most significant, compounded by the requirement of high-intensity power, high initial capital cost, and long payback period. Under governance and regulatory barriers, lack of political commitment exerts cascading effects on standards for solar panel production, installation, waste disposal, and recycling systems. For ecological barriers, the complex task of solar cell disposal, particularly cadmium contamination, poses long-term risks to environmental and human health. The findings underscore that overcoming financial and governance bottlenecks is essential for enabling large-scale adoption of solar energy in coal-intensive industries. By highlighting systemic ecological concerns, the study also stresses the need for sustainable waste management policies.</p>