**Policy Summary: Climate Resilient Power Infrastructure for Coastal Areas**
On July 28, 2025, the Ministry of Power announced ongoing efforts to enhance the climate resilience of power infrastructure in coastal areas, referencing the Electricity Act 2003, which mandates distribution licensees to maintain efficient and safe distribution systems. The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), launched in July 2021, supports distribution utilities in improving operational efficiency and financial viability.
Under the RDSS, Rs. 3,088 Cr has been allocated for Disaster Cyclone Resilient Works in coastal regions of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. These projects include HT and LT underground cabling, Ring Main Units (RMU), Aerial Bunched Cabling (ABC), and distribution transformer augmentation.
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has published a disaster management plan for the power sector, emphasizing grid resilience and disaster-resistant infrastructure across generation, transmission, and distribution networks. CEA regulations, including the Technical Standards for Construction of Electrical Plants and Electrical Lines Regulations 2022 and the Grid Standards Regulation 2010, promote the use of underground cables in coastal areas and emergency restoration systems.
A task force report on Cyclone Resilient Electricity Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure in Coastal Areas, circulated in June 2021, recommends that coastal states/UTs identify cyclone-prone areas within 20-30 km of the coastline and apply specific design parameters for new construction or reconstruction of power systems.
For Maharashtra, Rs 17,237 crores has been sanctioned under RDSS for distribution infrastructure, including substations, underground cabling and network upgrades for smart grid functionality. This includes:
* Rs 144 Cr for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Distribution Management System (DMS) implementation in Mumbai.
* Rs 244 Cr for IT/OT works, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, billing software, and load forecasting tools for BEST and MSEDCL DISCOMs.
* Smart metering works for 2.35 crore consumer meters, 4.1 lakh distribution transformer meters, and 29,214 feeder meters.
Cybersecurity measures for the power sector include:
* The establishment of CSIRTPower to assist utilities with cyber incident handling.
* CEA's Cyber Security in Power Sector Guidelines.
* Mandatory testing in India for imported equipment to detect malware and ensure adherence to Indian Standards.
* Cybersecurity provisions in the Standard Bidding Document (SBD) for smart metering under RDSS.
Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, Minister of State for Power, provided this information in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
Key Entities Referenced
Electricity Act 2003: Indian legislation governing the electricity sector, relevant to distribution licensing and system maintenance.
Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme RDSS: A Government of India scheme launched in July 2021 to improve the operational efficiency and financial viability of distribution utilities.
Maharashtra: A coastal state in India where Rs 17,237 crores have been sanctioned under RDSS for distribution infrastructure works.
Gujarat: A coastal state in India where Disaster Cyclone Resilient Works have been sanctioned under RDSS.
Kerala: A coastal state in India where Disaster Cyclone Resilient Works have been sanctioned under RDSS.
Andhra Pradesh: A coastal state in India where Disaster Cyclone Resilient Works have been sanctioned under RDSS.
Central Electricity Authority CEA: An Indian authority that focuses on grid resilience and disaster-resistant infrastructure in the power sector.
CSIRTPower: An organization set up to help utilities in cyber incident handling and to ensure better cyber security preparedness in the power sector.
Ministry of Power
CLIMATE RESILIENT POWER INFRASTRUCTURE
FOR COASTAL AREAS
Posted On: 28 JUL 2025 5:39PM by PIB Delhi
As per Electricity Act 2003, distribution of electricity is a licensed activity and it is the duty of the respective
distribution licensee to develop and maintain an efficient, safe and economical distribution system in its area
of supply.
Government of India launched Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in July 2021 to support
distribution utilities improve their operational efficiency and financial viability. Under the scheme, Disaster/
Cyclone Resilient Works amounting to Rs. 3,088 Cr have been sanctioned for coastal areas in the States of
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Sanctioned works includes HT and LT underground
cabling, Ring Main Unit (RMU), Ariel Bunched Cabling (ABC), augmentation of distribution transformers
etc.
Disaster management plan for power sector published by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) focuses on grid
resilience, disaster resistant generation, transmission and distribution network to ensure reliable power supply
to all geographically specific areas, including coastal areas like Konkan region, keeping in view extreme
weather related instance and natural disasters.
Further, CEA (Technical Standards for Construction of Electrical Plants and Electrical Lines) Regulations
2022 and CEA (Grid Standards) Regulation 2010 mentions about use of underground cables in coastal areas,
emergency restoration system to minimize outage, GIS substation in seismic prone areas, coastal areas etc.
In addition, the report of task force on ‘Cyclone Resilient Robust Electricity Transmission and Distribution
Infrastructure in the Coastal Areas’ constituted by Ministry of power was circulated to all stakeholders in June
2021 wherein it was requested that each coastal State/ UT may mark out areas prone to cyclone within 20 to
30 km of coast line and any new construction/ reconstruction of power system in these areas will follow a
design parameter as laid down in the report.
For the State of Maharashtra, Rs 17,237 crores have been sanctioned under RDSS for distribution
infrastructure works which includes substations, underground cabling, augmentation of network etc crucial for
smart grid. The sanctioned work also include following:
i. Implementation of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) and DMS (Distribution
Management System) worth Rs 144 Cr for the city of Mumbai.
ii. IT/ OT works like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, Billing Software, Load forecasting &
associated tools and other IT modules worth Rs 244 Cr for BEST and MSEDCL DISCOMs.
In addition, smart metering works for 2.35 crore consumer meter, 4.1 lakh distribution transformer meter and
29,214 feeder meter have also been sanctioned under RDSS.
Further, following measures are being taken to promote cyber security of Power Sector in the country
including Maharashtra:
i. CSIRT-Power has been set up which helps the utilities in cyber incident handling and to ensure bettercyber security preparedness in the power sector. CSIRT-Power has laid down Cyber Security framework
and protocol for the Power Sector.
ii. CEA issued Cyber Security in Power Sector Guidelines covering all major aspects of cyber security.
iii. Ministry of Power has mandated that all equipment, components, and parts imported for use in power
supply system and network shall be tested in the country to check for any kind of embedded malware/
trojans/ cyber threat and for adherence to Indian Standards.
iv. Further, the Standard Bidding Document (SBD) for smart metering works under RDSS has provisions
in respect of Cyber Security which cover aspects like securing communication infrastructure, cloud
security requirements, cyber security incident management, etc.
This information was given by the Minister of State for Power, Shri Shripad Yesso Naik, in a written reply in
the Rajya Sabha today.
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SK
(Release ID: 2149366)