Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) applications will play a central role in modernising India’s power distribution systems, Union Power Minister Manohar Lal said on Sunday. Speaking at a two-day national conference on AI/ML in the power sector at Bharat Mandapam, he said such technologies will enable intelligent, consumer-centric and self-optimising electricity networks.
The Minister highlighted the potential of AI-enabled solutions such as smart meter analytics, digital twins, predictive maintenance, theft detection, appliance-level insights, outage prediction and GenAI-based decision support to significantly improve both operational efficiency and consumer experience.
Calling for stronger collaboration between DISCOMs, technology partners, innovators and academia, Lal stressed the importance of building consumer trust. He noted that misinformation around new technologies must be addressed to ensure wider adoption. According to him, AI/ML solutions can empower households to manage electricity use, help prevent outages, reduce theft-related losses, lower power purchase costs and support investment in better infrastructure.
Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal reiterated the Ministry’s commitment to accelerating digitalisation across DISCOMs. He underlined the need for capacity building, secure data-sharing frameworks and interoperability to ensure that innovations showcased at the conference can be scaled nationwide.
As part of a national innovation challenge, the conference received 195 applications from DISCOMs, AMISPs, technology providers and home automation companies. After multiple evaluation rounds, TNPDCL (Tamil Nadu) and MP East (Madhya Pradesh) won in the DISCOM category; Tata Power and Apraava were selected in the AMISP category; Pravah and Flock Energy won among solution providers; and Tata Power was recognised in the home automation category. The winning teams presented their technology use cases, ranging from revenue protection through smart meter analytics to behavioural demand response and unified grid intelligence.
The Minister also launched STELLAR, a resource adequacy planning tool developed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), designed to help DISCOMs prepare long-term load adequacy plans. In addition, the India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) released a handbook outlining AI, ML, AR/VR and robotics-based utility solutions, featuring 174 use cases, including 45 from Indian utilities.
