The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released a report proposing a phased trajectory for indigenising supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems used in the power sector, following the Ministry of Power’s decision that SCADA systems should not be imported beyond 2030. The committee identified dependence on foreign original equipment manufacturers, proprietary database structures, interoperability constraints, and reliance on vendors for system modifications, upgrades and support as key challenges with existing systems.
The committee has finalised an indigenisation trajectory covering 38 software and 25 hardware modules. It concluded that India has the technical capability to achieve indigenisation during 2026-27 to 2028-29, subject to adequate funding, testing infrastructure and implementation support. The report also recommends establishing a dedicated testing platform and conducting pilot projects at State Load Despatch Centres, Regional Load Despatch Centres and National Load Despatch Centre to validate indigenous SCADA systems through real-time field testing before wider deployment.