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Ember provides a response to India's draft National Electricity Policy 2026, arguing for a shift from sequential to co-optimised generation and transmission planning to address bottlenecks and stranded assets. The brief recommends integrating grid-enhancing technologies to manage stability as renewable energy penetration increases, unbundling state transmission utilities to allow private sector participation, and reforming DISCOM procurement to avoid over-reliance on long-term coal contracts. It also emphasizes the need for a robust data-sharing and cybersecurity framework to manage the increasing volume of electricity data from private aggregators and smart infrastructure.

This research paper, produced by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), examines the financial instability of India's electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. It analyzes how the pandemic exacerbated pre-existing structural issues—such as poor billing, high procurement costs, and inadequate tariff structures—and evaluates the effectiveness of central government stimulus packages and regulatory reforms intended to stabilize the sector and support a sustainable energy transition.