Manohar Lal urged State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to move towards cost‑reflective tariffs while ensuring targeted subsidies for needy consumers, in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act.
Union Minister for Power, Manohar Lal, has said that with India’s power sector set to expand beyond what can be imagined today, distribution companies (discoms) must become financially strong to sustain this growth.
Delivering the inaugural address at the ‘Electricity Distribution Industry Conference (EDICON): 2026’ in New Delhi, Lal stated, “In such a scenario, our discoms must be strong, prosperous, and financially empowered. Strong discoms mean improved services and greater sensitivity to consumer needs.”
He urged State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to move towards cost‑reflective tariffs while ensuring targeted subsidies for needy consumers, in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act.
Lal also unveiled the first edition of the Association of Indian Distribution Utilities (AIDA) annual report titled India Discoms: 2025. The report provides an outlook on the distribution sector, covering efforts by discoms to improve supply reliability and operational efficiency, challenges faced, and initiatives taken by the Ministry of Power and the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). These include key features of the Draft Electricity Amendment Bill, India Energy Stack, and other reforms. The report also features 13 articles authored by eminent power sector experts.
Recognising excellence in distribution, Lal presented awards to 12 discoms from Gujarat, Odisha, Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal across six categories. These include improvement in rural revenue recovery, best use of smart meter data, consumer satisfaction in digital payments, innovation in renewable energy integration, agricultural feeder solarisation, and effective change management for enhanced consumer services.
The event was attended by senior officials including Pankaj Agarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Power; Lokesh Chandra, Chairman & Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Co. Ltd (MSEDCL) and President of AIDA; Ashish Kumar Goel, Chairperson of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corp. Ltd (UPPCL) and General Secretary of AIDA; and Alok Kumar, Director General of AIDA.