33 | September 2025 | www.industrialoutlook.in
Future outlook (2030 and beyond)
Looking toward 2030 and the fol-
lowing decade, here’s a credible,
subjective forecast of how India’s
grid might look:
• Higher RE share but with fewer
outages. Renewables will account
for a substantially larger share of
generation. With storage and flexi-
ble operations, system reliability
will improve even as fossil genera-
tion declines.
• Markets will deepen. Faster
intra-day markets and ancillary ser-
vices will allow distributed resourc-
es and storage to compete and pro-
vide credible revenue streams.
• Distributed intelligence will grow.
Hundreds of thousands (then mil-
lions) of smart meters, managed
chargers, and VPPs will provide
granular balancing services.
•
Infrastructure
will
be
more
meshed and resilient. HVDC corri-
dors, strengthened inter-regional
links, and microgrids for critical
loads will reduce the impact of
localized outages.
• Electrification of transport and
industry will increase load but bring
flexibility. Smart charging and de-
mand response will become integral
to grid balancing rather than being
purely a source of stress.
• India will be a major market for
storage, grid tech, and manufactur-
ing. The domestic ecosystem for
cells, inverters, and grid equipment
will expand due to policy and
market pull, reducing import depen-
dence and creating export opportu-
nities.
This optimistic scenario is contin-
gent on steady investment, regulato-
ry evolution, and rapid deployment
of flexibility solutions.
Conclusion - a subjective synthe-
sis
India’s power grid is at an inflection
point. The technical and institution-
al tasks ahead are significant, but so
are the economic and societal
upsides. The transition from a
centralized, inertia-rich fossil sys-
tem to a flexible, inverter-dominat-
ed, digitally orchestrated network is
not inevitable it must be actively
managed. Success will come from
coupling infrastructure investment
(transmission, storage, digital con-
trol) with market reforms that remu-
nerate flexibility and strengthen off
taker creditworthiness.
From a market perspective, the
opportunities are enormous: a grow-
ing power grids market, sizable
storage potential, and a brisk
demand for grid software and
services. Technically, solutions ex-
ist grid-forming inverters, HVDC
links, advanced forecasting, and
battery storage. Institutionally, the
challenges are classic coordination
problems: aligning state and central
planning, upgrading DISCOMs, and
ensuring procurement is efficient.
If policymakers, regulators, utili-
ties, and private investors treat grid
modernization as a national priority
and if they implement the practical
measures outlined above India can
lead a pragmatic, scalable power
transition that secures energy
ac-
cess, supports economic growth,
and achieves meaningful decarbon-
ization. The next five years will
determine whether the country
locks in flexibility and resilience or
stumbles into costly curtailment and
instability. The good news: the
pieces are available; the imperative
and the capital are largely present.
Execution is the remaining
frontier.
C S
OVER TORY