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A committee set up by the Central Electricity Authority has proposed a phased plan to replace imported Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) technology in India's power grid, so that no SCADA system is imported after 2030.
The panel, constituted on 16 December 2025 under the CEA's Member (Planning) and completing its report in July 2026, mapped 38 software modules and 25 hardware modules to be built in India across FY27, FY28 and FY29 - that is, by March 2029.
Development is proposed either on nomination to a government PSU such as C-DAC, or through a consortium led by POWERGRID or Grid-India selected via an expression of interest within one year.
The committee also asked for a cyber-security and simulation testing facility to be set up within two years with government funding, and for a formal institutional framework under the Ministry of Power to drive the effort.
SCADA is the control backbone of load despatch centres, so import dependence is treated as both a supply-chain and a cyber-security vulnerability for critical infrastructure.
SCADA is an industrial automation architecture that combines hardware and software to monitor, gather and process real-time data from physical infrastructure spread over large areas, and to control that equipment remotely. Field sensors measure quantities such as voltage, temperature, pressure, flow rate and grid frequency. Remote Terminal Units (RTUs) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) collect this sensor data and act on local equipment. The readings travel over Ethernet, radio, fibre-optic or other industrial networks to a central control room, where a Human-Machine Interface (HMI) presents live dashboards and mimic diagrams and lets operators issue commands back to the field. Beyond electricity, SCADA runs oil and gas pipeline networks, municipal water and wastewater utilities, and continuous manufacturing lines.
Simple Analogy: Think of an air traffic control tower for machines: hundreds of remote devices constantly report their position and health to one screen, and the controller can redirect any of them without leaving the room.
Statutory technical body constituted under Section 70(1) of the Electricity Act, 2003; advises the Government on electricity policy, frames grid standards and prepares the National Electricity Plan. It constituted the SCADA indigenisation committee
National grid operator; runs the National Load Despatch Centre (NLDC) and five Regional Load Despatch Centres. Renamed from Power System Operation Corporation (POSOCO) on 9 November 2022. Proposed as a possible consortium leader for indigenous SCADA
Central transmission utility, a Maharatna PSU; the other entity named as a possible consortium leader
R&D organisation under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, named as the kind of government PSU that could be given the work on nomination basis
GS Paper III > Infrastructure: Energy; Science and Technology - indigenisation; Internal Security - critical infrastructure and cyber security
General Awareness > National Affairs, Science and Technology
General Awareness > Technology and Infrastructure
If a major solar storm (solar flare) reaches the Earth, which of the following are the possible effects on the Earth? 1. GPS and navigation systems could fail. 2. Tsunamis could occur at equatorial regions. 3. Power grids could be damaged. 4. Intense auroras could occur over much of the Earth. 5. Forest fires could take place over much of the planet. 6. Orbits of the satellites could be disturbed. 7. Shortwave radio communication of the aircraft flying over polar regions could be interrupted. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1, 3, 4, 6 and 7 only
An electric iron of 1kW power operating on 220V requires a fuse of what rating to prevent short-circuiting?
Answer: 5 A
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition - an architecture of hardware and software that gathers real-time field data and allows remote control of distributed industrial equipment
Remote Terminal Unit and Programmable Logic Controller - field devices that collect sensor data and execute control instructions on nearby equipment
Human-Machine Interface - the operator-facing dashboard and mimic display through which a SCADA system is monitored and commanded
A control function that adjusts generator output automatically to hold system frequency and scheduled interchange
A computation that produces the most likely present electrical state of the whole grid from imperfect and incomplete measurements
Computing that directly monitors or controls physical processes, as distinct from enterprise information technology