India has attained power sufficiency, with the country’s total installed generation capacity reaching 520.51 GW as of January 2026. Since April 2014, the Government of India has added 296.388 GW of fresh generation capacity, effectively transforming the nation from a power-deficit to a power-surplus scenario.
The Power Supply Position over the last three financial years and the current financial year (2025-26, up to January 2026) shows that the energy supplied has largely matched the energy requirement, with only a marginal gap mainly due to state-level transmission and distribution constraints.
The supply and distribution of electricity to various consumer categories, districts, and cities remain under the purview of respective State Governments and power utilities. Distribution licensees are responsible for arranging adequate power from various sources to meet consumer demand.
To improve the quality and reliability of electricity distribution, the Government launched the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in July 2021. The scheme aims to reduce Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses to 12–15% and eliminate the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realized (ARR). Under the RDSS, projects worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore for distribution infrastructure and Rs 1.3 lakh crore for smart metering have been sanctioned based on state proposals.
Key initiatives under the scheme include:
-Creation and upgradation of substations
-Installation and augmentation of Distribution Transformers (DTs)
-Replacement of old conductors and undergrounding of HT/LT lines
-Segregation of agricultural feeders
-Implementation of pre-paid and smart metering systems to improve collection efficiency and enable better energy accounting
As part of these efforts, 4.55 crore smart meters have been installed under RDSS, contributing to a total of 5.97 crore smart meters across India under various schemes. In Assam, projects worth Rs 3,395 crore for loss reduction and Rs 4,050 crore for smart metering have been sanctioned, with 50.36 lakh smart meters installed out of 64.45 lakh sanctioned as of 28th February 2026.
The release of funds under RDSS is linked to improved operational and financial performance of utilities. Initiatives like timely payment of government dues, regular issuance of tariff orders, and non-creation of regulatory assets have contributed to overall discipline in the sector.
These collective efforts have helped reduce AT&C losses at the national level from 21.91% in FY21 to 15.04% in FY25, and the national ACS-ARR gap has narrowed from Rs 0.69/kWh to Rs 0.06/kWh. For the first time, DISCOMs reported a profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 2,701 crore.
At the state level, Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) has reduced AT&C losses from 18.55% in FY21 to 15.44% in FY25 and narrowed the ACS-ARR gap from 0.32 in FY21 to (0.26) in FY25.
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