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Informist, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – The Ministry of Power has moved a Cabinet note to begin inter-ministerial consultations on the draft National Electricity Policy 2026, a senior official of the ministry told reporters Thursday. "The new policy is basically designed keeping in view the demands of the Viksit Bharat by 2047. Because the last policy we issued in 2005, there was a very different set of challenges," Pankaj Agarwal, secretary, Ministry of Power, said on the sidelines of the second Indian Power Sector Conference, organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry here.

 

The ministry had rolled out the draft national electricity policy for public consultation in January. The National Electricity Policy 2005 addressed the challenges related to renewable energy, solar power, and wind energy, Agarwal said. "Today, we are at a very different level. We are already at 300 gigawatts of power. Going forward, the challenges are different."

 

The draft policy addresses the challenges related to electricity shortages, grid management, transmission systems, and having financially sustainable, self-reliant, tech-savvy distribution companies, according to Agarwal. "If we really want our industry to be competitive, we need to promote open access in a big way," he said. "Not only vanilla open access, but also capital generation. More and more industries may go green. We need to provide them the enabling requirements and enabling regulation to help them achieve their goals."

 

INDIGENOUS CHIPS

On a question related to smart data chips, Agarwal said India could launch its own indigenously designed power sector chips in electricity smart meters by 2028. "Some of the chip developers and also the smart meter manufacturers are actively engaged," he said. "Some chips are being already designed... They (smart meter manufacturers) need to test those chips, and as and when they are able to validate their chips, they will go for commercial production. So, it is not going to take very long.

 

"We have already issued the Make in India requirement for mandating design in India chips for smart meters, including fabricated in India chips for smart meters with some timeline," he added. Notably, the ministry's procurement will ensure that the smart meter manufacturers have an assured market, meaning only chips designed in India and meters equipped with such chips will get marketed, according to the official.

 

COAL STOCKS

Amid reports of coal shortage in thermal power plants, the power ministry is securing 440 rakes on a daily basis, and the logistical challenges hindering the supply of coal have been resolved, according to Agarwal. "This year, the monsoon has been very peculiar," he said. "We had plentiful rainfall where we produce coal, and there has been a deficit of rainfall where we actually consumed power in large areas. Southern India has been one such (case). On the one side, there were constraints on coal supply because of the heavy rainfall, and on the other side, we have been facing elevated demand, and that is pushing coal consumption," Agarwal said.  End

 

Reported by Astha Oriel

Edited by Himanshi Gupta

 

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