To Continue That Electric Feeling

Context: India has achieved remarkable progress in the power sector. Future policies should aim at improving the reliability of the power supply across the country.

India’s remarkable strides in the power sector

• Universalisation of power:
  • All villages in India are electrified, and the launch of the Saubhagya aimed at bringing electric power to every home in India has provided electricity access to 28 million houses in just 18 months.
  • According to the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), an average Indian household received 20.6 hours of power supply from the grid in 2020. 
• Infrastructure leap and competitive market policies:
  • India has added 142,000 circuit km of transmission lines, connecting the entire country to a single grid with one national control centre.
  • This led to the emergence of a national electricity market, with discoms able to buy power from any generation company across the country. There are now two national exchanges, with intra day-ahead and term-ahead markets and a separate green term-ahead market.
  • Technology adoption: Over 25.23 lakh smart meters have been installed across states, and about 81 lakh smart meters are under deployment.
• Leading the energy transition: 
  • Renewable’s capacity has increased by over three times in the last 7 years: Since 2014, India has added 182 GW of generation capacity, the bulk of which is in renewables.
    • With the universalisation of power, between 2014-21, kerosene consumption reduced by 77%, resulting in 17.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions reduction.
  • Widespread adoption of LEDs is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 171 mn tonnes a year.
  • PM-KUSUM (Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan) scheme have sanctioned 3.59 lakh standalone solar pumps, solarisation of 76,000 individual grid-connected pumps, and feeder-level solarisation of over 9.25 lakh grid-connected pumps.
• India as regional power exporter: India exports 8,000 mn units of power annually to Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Way forward

• Push for achieving the ambitious target of 40 GW capacity from rooftop solar by 2022. 
• Improving the reliability of power supply through: with a consumer-centric approach - 
  • Financial benefits to companies that switch entirely to renewable power.
  • Promoting storage capacities: through Battery storage systems and connection portability.
  • Effective monitoring operations through active expansion of corrective measures like the smart metering systems and other AI-supported advancements.