According to the Ministry of Power, the government has accepted the report of a task force or expert panel that prepares the way for a contemporary and smart electricity transmission system in India.

“The country will soon have a modern and smart power transmission system with features such as real-time monitoring and automated operation of grid, better situational assessment, capability to have increased share of renewable capacity in the power-mix, enhanced utilization of transmission capacity, greater resilience against cyber attacks as well as natural disasters, centralized and data-driven decision-making, reduction in forced outages through self-correcting systems etc.," in the words of the ministry.

These and other recommendations are included in the report of a task force established by the power ministry in September 2021 under the chairmanship of Powergrid chairman and managing director to suggest ways to modernize the transmission sector and make it smart and future-ready, according to reports.

In its report, the task group recommended a variety of technological and digital options that might be implemented to make state transmission grids future-ready.

These recommendations have been categorized as follows: modernization of existing transmission systems; application of innovative technology in construction and supervision, operations and management; smart and future-ready transmission systems; and workforce upskilling.

Based on the performance of global transmission utilities, the task group also recommended standards for transmission network availability and voltage regulation.

While the short- to medium-term recommendations will be implemented over 1-3 years, the long-term interventions will be implemented over 3-5 years, according to reports.

Representatives from state transmission utilities, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), central transmission utilities, MeiTY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology), IIT Kanpur, NSGPMU, and EPTA were also on the task group.