I'm from India, we could have easily replaced those coal power plants by nuclear.
Sadly too many protests from environmentalists.
Time of construction and cost of these plants far outweigh its benefits when compared to easier and cheaper alternatives in the renewable sector.
The first step would be the set a definitive date when the coal plant will get demolished. Once that is done, people can continue to debating what optimal alternative should be constructed but if the date come and there is nothing built then what people get is no power, and the blame then goes to those who refused to build new power plants when they knew ahead that the coal plant is getting demolished.
How is the next generation of nuclear power supposed to avoid that problem if people build everything at once and then stop again for 50 years?