Join Srinivasan Iyengar and Arindam Goswami in this episode of All Things Policy, where the discussion focuses on India’s electricity sector. Around the world, electricity demand is rising sharply due to post-COVID economic recovery, greater electrification of transport (EVs), the growing share of renewables, and the expansion of data centres. As a rapidly industrialising developing nation, how is India positioned to meet this surge in demand? What adjustments are needed to ensure that the power sector "powers" India’s progress?
And for this, we need to decode the complex world of India's energy transition. In this episode, we’ll be diving into a controversy that's costing renewable energy developers millions - and potentially slowing down India's ambitious clean energy targets. DSM penalties, or Deviation Settlement Mechanism charges, were designed to maintain grid stability. But they've become a lightning rod of debate in the renewables sector. Are these penalties fair accountability measures, or are they unfairly punishing wind and solar developers for doing something fundamentally different from coal plants? With billions of rupees at stake and India's renewable energy target hanging in the balance, this isn't just a technical debate - it's about the future of India's energy landscape.
Today we're asking: Is the grid penalising the very energy sources it needs most?
Our guest for today, Srinivasan Iyengar, is the CTO for the Energy and Resources Industry in Asia at a major multinational technology company. He completed his PhD in Computer Science from University of Massachusetts, Amherst. His research focused on Distributed Systems, Cyber-physical Systems, Cloud and Edge Computing, and Smart Cities and Energy.
All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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