Power minister rings alarm on cyber threats, wants nuclear plants nationwide

New Delhi: Union power minister Manohar Lal on Tuesday asked state governments to take all necessary measures to safeguard India’s power ecosystem against cybersecurity threats, and urged states to build at least one nuclear plant in their respective states to give a boost to this form of energy.

The minister asked for cybersecurity safeguards for power sector infrastructure, particularly transmission grids and distribution networks, and advised the states to implement appropriate cybersecurity protocols and adopt power islanding schemes. Such schemes can isolate a portion of a power grid during a disturbance and continue to run independently, thereby preventing a grid-wide blackout.

Also Read | Oil seems resilient. Why energy markets should still be on edge.

The recommendation gains significance as the country witnessed several disturbances in the Indian power grid during the recent conflict with Pakistan.

The minister was speaking in Patna at a regional conference on power for India’s eastern states.

Also Read | As India switches gears to renewable energy, these switchgear stocks may benefit

The meeting was attended by Shripad Yesso Naik, Union minister of state for power and renewable energy; Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, deputy chief minister, Odisha; Bijendra Prasad Yadav, energy minister of Bihar; and Sudivya Kumar, urban development and housing minister, Jharkhand. The meeting was also attended by Union power secretary Pankaj Agarwal, secretaries for power of participating states, and executives of central and state power sector entities.

The minister urged states to include nuclear power in their resource adequacy plans and asked them to consider setting up at least one nuclear power plant in each state. His remark assumes significance in the backdrop of India setting an ambitious target of 100GW for installed nuclear power capacity by 2047. Towards this end, the government is also set to allow private players to set up nuclear power plants in the country.

Also Read | World Bank grants South Africa USD 1.5B loan for infrastructure upgrade, green energy transition

Speaking about power demand, the minister noted that India successfully met a the record peak demand of 250GW in May last year. This year, the country has witnessed a peak demand of 241GW thus far. The projection for this year is a fresh high of 270GW peak power demand.

The minister also asked states to work towards resolving the issues faced in development of intra-state transmission projects, including right of way (RoW), which is a major issue in terms of growth of transmission network. Right of way refers to the legal permission to go through or use someone’s private land.

In the previous financial year (FY25), only 8,830 circuit kilometres (ckm) of transmission lines were added, 37.8% lower than 14,203ckm in the previous fiscal, according to data from the Central Electricity Authority.

Speaking on the share of renewable energy in the country, Lal mentioned that the share of renewable energy in India’s energy mix has increased from 32% in 2014 to 49% in April 2025. He urged states to promote renewable energy along with energy storage systems in order to ensure reliability of supply of power.

He also urged the states to implement renewable purchase obligation (RPO), which mandates power distribution companies to procure and supply green power.

The minister remarked that while the distribution sector is the most critical link in the power sector value chain, requiring an estimated ₹42 trillion by 2032, it faces challenges due to poor tariff structures, sub-optimal billing and collection, and delayed payments of government department dues and subsidies.