Key Messages

While clean power generation is crucial, India’s energy transition requires concerted efforts from all actors in the power sector value chain. This book chapter explored the critical role of India’s distribution companies (DISCOMs) where operational, financial, and political challenges accumulate. After presenting the institutional genesis of Indian DISCOMs, we discussed these issues and shed light on the strengths and opportunities of DISCOMs in enabling a successful transition to a clean energy future. This demands a paradigm shift in the overall functioning of DISCOMs through a major focus on digitalisation, smart grids, integrating solar rooftop systems, electric vehicles, and demand-side management programmes supported by strong monitoring and evaluation systems.


The content is published under Chapter 8 of the book titled 'India’s Energy Revolution: Insights into the Becoming of a Global Power'.

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The power distribution sector: The final challenge to India’s green transformation