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India's ambitious energy stack takes shape, but faces legacy hurdles
Subhomoy Bhattacharjee New Delhi
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India's power sector has not taken kindly to innovation, in so far as it relates to enforcing efficiency and reducing costs. Despite an impressive national grid, a growing renewable energy (RE) footprint, and plans to make India a hub for cross border electricity supply, chronic old problems of badly-set electricity prices leading to financial weakness in the power distribution companies refuse to go away.
This makes the power ministry's latest plan unveiled last week to set up an India Energy Stack (IES) an interesting proposition. At the heart of this ambitious plan is to make energy pay for itself by
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Time of India
2 days ago
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India to invest ₹13 trillion in transmission infra, ₹1.3 trillion in smart meters by 2035: Report
New Delhi: India will need an estimated investment of ₹65–70 trillion by 2035 to meet its projected electricity demand of over 4,000 TWh, according to a report by Omniscience Capital. The country's power generation capacity is expected to rise to 1,300–1,400 GW by 2035, requiring significant capital infusion across generation, transmission, distribution, and digital infrastructure. The report projects that solar and wind will drive India's energy transition with a combined investment of ₹34.5 trillion. Solar power alone is estimated to attract ₹23 trillion to expand capacity to 564 GW, while wind energy will need ₹11.5 trillion to reach 280 GW. Transmission and distribution infrastructure will also need heavy investments to support the grid's expansion. Transmission networks are projected to require ₹13 trillion in capital expenditure to support an additional 2.3 lakh circuit kilometres. Additionally, ₹1.3 trillion will be needed for the installation of 30 crore smart meters across the country by 2035. Renewables to account for 70per cent of capacity By 2035, renewable sources including solar and wind are expected to comprise 70per cent of India's installed power generation capacity, contributing 47per cent of total electricity generation. Solar capacity is projected to grow 5x from 2025 levels, while wind capacity is expected to grow 5.5x. According to the report, India will need to add approximately 889 GW of new power capacity from 2025 to 2035. This includes 458 GW of solar, 231 GW of wind, 108 GW of coal, 51 GW of large hydro, and 30 GW of nuclear. Coal's declining share, but dominant in generation While coal's share in installed capacity is projected to fall to 24per cent by 2035, it is still expected to account for 46per cent of electricity generation, producing 1,937 billion units out of the projected 4,250 billion units. This reflects its continuing role in base-load power supply. In contrast, solar is expected to generate 988 billion units and wind 615 billion units, contributing a combined 38per cent of total generation. Large hydro and nuclear are estimated to generate 341 and 263 billion units, respectively. Digital backbone and storage to support the grid The report highlights the role of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in improving plant load factors (PLFs) for renewables. By 2035, PLFs for solar and wind are expected to improve to 20per cent and 25per cent, respectively, from historical averages of 15per cent and 18per cent. The Ministry of Power has initiated the development of an India Energy Stack (IES), which aims to create a unified, secure digital public infrastructure for energy services. A 12-month proof-of-concept phase is expected to be launched in Mumbai and Delhi, followed by a national rollout. Smart metering to reduce AT&C losses Under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) , the government plans to install 30 crore smart meters by 2035, with an estimated capex of ₹1.3 trillion. This initiative is aimed at reducing aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses to 12–15per cent across India.
Business Standard
08-07-2025
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India's ambitious energy stack takes shape, but faces legacy hurdles
The core of the India Energy Stack is to make energy pay for itself by a constant exchange of data between governments, the private sector, and consumers, but chronic problems of bad pricing remain Subhomoy Bhattacharjee New Delhi Listen to This Article India's power sector has not taken kindly to innovation, in so far as it relates to enforcing efficiency and reducing costs. Despite an impressive national grid, a growing renewable energy (RE) footprint, and plans to make India a hub for cross border electricity supply, chronic old problems of badly-set electricity prices leading to financial weakness in the power distribution companies refuse to go away. This makes the power ministry's latest plan unveiled last week to set up an India Energy Stack (IES) an interesting proposition. At the heart of this ambitious plan is to make energy pay for itself by
Time of India
07-07-2025
- Time of India
All you need to know about India Energy Stack - India's UPI moment for power sector
New Delhi: India's ambition to become a $30 trillion economy by 2047, coupled with its net-zero commitment by 2070, will dramatically increase its per capita energy consumption. The complexity of managing a grid with a rising share of renewable generation — including rooftop solar and distributed energy — necessitates a fundamental shift in how data, systems, and decision-making are managed across the power sector. Current systems remain fragmented. Distribution companies ( DISCOMs ), transmission entities (TRANSCOs), and generation companies (GENCOs) operate in digital silos, leading to inefficiencies and limiting innovation. The India Energy Stack (IES) is proposed as a national Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) to address this. What are the key challenges in India's current power sector? The sector faces four structural digital issues: lack of a unique identifier for consumers and assets, high dependency on proprietary systems, limited interoperability across utilities, and asymmetry in data availability. Despite the presence of smart meters and SCADA systems, there is no unified architecture to bring all stakeholders together on a real-time, secure, and standardised digital platform. What is the India Energy Stack (IES)? Envisioned by the Ministry of Power with REC as nodal agency and FSR Global as knowledge partner, IES is a modular, standardised, and secure DPI for the power sector. It draws inspiration from Aadhaar and UPI in the financial sector and aims to provide digital IDs for energy consumers and assets, promote interoperability via open APIs, standardise data formats, and enable new services like peer-to-peer energy trading, virtual power plants, and green tariffs. What does the IES architecture look like? IES is structured in three layers: 1. Core infrastructure foundation – Defines uniform data protocols and open registries. 2. Core services – Enables interoperability and consent-based data access across utilities. 3. Applications and innovation platform – Supports solutions such as dynamic pricing, real-time grid analytics, demand response, and smart tariffs. A key application layer is the Utility Intelligence Platform (UIP) which builds on IES and helps integrate operational systems, provides analytics, and supports innovation using shared data. How does IES benefit stakeholders like DISCOMs, consumers, and startups? DISCOMs get real-time grid visibility and tools to optimise distributed generation. Consumers gain access to dynamic pricing, better grievance redressal, and portability across DISCOMs. Startups and innovators get a standardised sandbox environment with open APIs, enabling innovation without needing to build from scratch for each utility. What are the next steps in implementation? A 12-month Proof of Concept (PoC) is planned by the Ministry of Power. It will be tested across pilot utilities in cities like Mumbai and Delhi, focusing on both market-facing and utility-facing applications. The outcome will help develop a national blueprint for full-scale deployment. A parallel capacity-building programme will prepare the workforce to implement and operate IES. How does it relate to past DPIs like Aadhaar and UPI? Aadhaar provided unique identity, and UPI enabled interoperable payments. Similarly, IES aims to provide unique digital energy IDs and facilitate verifiable energy transactions. Just as Aadhaar and UPI unlocked new services in banking and government transfers, IES is expected to do the same for energy fintech and decentralised energy markets . What is the long-term vision? The India Energy Stack, once rolled out, is expected to improve transparency, boost policy formulation through real-time data, and enhance energy access and reliability. It promotes a federated, decentralised system that builds on existing digital assets, avoids duplication, and unlocks the full value of machine-to-machine data exchange.
