Adopt AI effectively in power sector to improve service delivery: Union Minister of State for Power, Shripad Naik

Union Minister of State for Power Shripad Naik on Wednesday called for effective adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the power sector to improve service delivery and electricity management as the country’s energy needs evolve.

Speaking at a two day conclave on “Making Indian Power Sector AI Enabled”, organised by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to coincide with its 53rd Foundation Day, he highlighted the sector’s progress in capacity, renewables and digitalisation.

“The power sector has done well on capacity, renewables and digitalisation, and now we must bring AI into it in a proper way. Whether it is generation, transmission or distribution, AI can help us run the system more efficiently and serve the consumer better. With more renewable energy coming onto the grid, we need smarter tools to plan resources and manage supply. Policy and technology have to move together so that every household gets electricity without interruption,” Naik said.

India’s installed generation capacity stood at 558.8 GW as of September 30, with about 308 GW, or 55 per cent, from non fossil sources. The country reached the 50 per cent mark in June 2025, five years ahead of its 2030 target. About 7.75 crore smart meters have been deployed so far, the minister noted.

Sanjeev Kumar, Managing Director, GNA Energy, said India’s grid challenges are closely tied to how well power sector data is used. “Discoms already sit on a huge amount of smart meter data, but much of it is looked at only in hindsight. AI changes that. AI will not just support the grid but manage it. It lets a discom spot a feeder under stress, or a demand spike on its way, and act within the same hour. That is what modernising distribution really means,” he said.

GNA Energy has introduced Vidyut AI, a market analytics and power intelligence platform aligned with the Ministry of Power’s India Energy Stack initiative.