The country needs a system that can understand power demand in advance, says Minister
India is likely to add more than 70 GW of power generation capacity in 2026-27, the highest in a single year, Minister of Power Manohar Lal has told inaugural session of the Central Electricity Authority’s (CEA) two-day international conference-cum-exhibition, ‘Making Indian Power Sector AI-Enabled’.
Addressing virtually on 14 Oct, Manohar Lal said the future of a large and complex power system lies not only in producing more electricity but in managing it intelligently. He said India’s installed capacity has reached about 555 GW, and the country now needs a system that can understand demand in advance, integrate renewable energy and storage better, and give consumers uninterrupted and affordable power.
He called Artificial Intelligence (AI) both a resource and a solution. “AI can help forecast generation more accurately, manage the grid better, plan maintenance in advance and detect power outages early,” he believes, and told the sector to move from a reactive system to a predictive and proactive one, with attention to power data security and responsible use of AI.
The conference, held 14-15 Oct on CEA’s 53rd Foundation Day, with FICCI as programme partner and CBIP as support partner. It brings together policymakers, senior officials, regulators, power utilities, industry leaders and technology experts to discuss how AI can be used across India’s power sector.
Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi also speaking virtually, pointed out that India has over 305 GW of non-fossil capacity, close to 55% of its total installed capacity of 554.5 GW.
He said the key question is how intelligently India can integrate, transmit, dispatch and consume clean energy. AI, he said, can improve renewable forecasting, support real-time grid balancing, optimise storage, reduce curtailment and help find congestion in the network.
“AI can help us convert data into intelligence, intelligence into timely decisions and decisions into better outcomes,” he said. He added that human oversight and accountability must stay central to critical grid operations, and that India should build AI for Indian conditions and take it to other emerging economies.
Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy, Shripad Yesso Naik, highlighted that India has reached 50 per cent non-fossil installed capacity in June 2025, more than five years ahead of its 2030 NDC timeline. As of 30 September 2026, non-fossil capacity had crossed 308 GW, including over 171 GW of solar and 59 GW of wind.
Peak demand touched 256 GW in April 2026 and 270 GW in July 2026. He said India is no longer just building a bigger power system but a more complex one, and AI can help manage it. “Technology becomes meaningful only when it improves the life of our people,” he said, adding that AI must be reliable, explainable and secure.
Minister of State for Commerce & Industry and Electronics & IT, Jitin Prasada, said the growth of AI, semiconductors and data centres depend on matching growth in power, especially green power. He said India should make power as easy to access for AI as UPI made digital payments. He said the government is bringing a policy for data centres and wants hyperscale investment without consumers paying more for electricity. He also spoke about skilling young people and avoiding supply chain choke points in power equipment and chips.
Power Ministry Secretary Pankaj Agarwal underscored, “AI in the grid will need real-time action, with response times in milliseconds or less.”
India, he said, can offer renewable-rich regions for data centres. He urged the sector to scale up pilot projects into sustainable business cases. He added that a data governance committee will include industry representatives along with government offices.
Additional Secretary, MNRE, Mayank Tiwari, said energy security is a core part of national security, and that India must balance the growth of green and conventional sources. He welcomed the conference’s ten focused tracks, designed to produce actionable outcomes, and CEA’s in-house team of 54 engineers working across ten areas of AI.
CEA Chairperson, Ghanshyam Prasad, said the sector’s challenge has changed from keeping the lights on to managing where power comes from, where it flows and when it is needed. He traced India’s journey from 13 GW at Independence to a single national grid. He said the sector’s plans, standards and regulations are the runway, and AI is the aircraft that needs it. He said CEA has set up a dedicated team of 54 officers on AI, and that the sector must build AI capability within its institutions and not only buy solutions.
FICCI Secretary General Anant Swarup added that India has shown it can build power infrastructure at scale and the next step is to make it intelligent. He said an AI-enabled power sector needs quality data, interoperable platforms, strong cybersecurity, skilled manpower and close cooperation between government, utilities, industry and technology providers. Fiinews.com
