Department of Management Sciences (DoMS), IIT Kanpur

The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur) hosted a delegation led by Pankaj Agarwal (IAS), secretary of the ministry of power, Government of India. The delegation, which included senior officials like Piyush Singh (joint secretary), Hemant Pandey (chief engineer), and Shaswattam (executive director, NETRA), engaged in comprehensive discussions with IIT Kanpur’s energy experts at the Centre for Energy Regulation (CER) and the Energy Analytics Lab (EAL).

Professor Anoop Singh, founder and coordinator of CER and EAL, led the discussions. They covered critical topics in the Indian power sector, including sectoral reforms, market development, Distribution System Operators (DSOs), carbon offset markets, storage solutions, and regulatory governance. This interaction provided valuable insights into the sector’s challenges and opportunities.

The delegation also interacted with research scholars and the CER-EAL team, gaining a deeper understanding of ongoing research and innovative work. Pankaj Agarwal’s active engagement with scholars’ dissertation topics demonstrated his keen interest in the institute’s academic pursuits. He further highlighted key initiatives like sectoral and market reforms, and the solar rooftop scheme. Discussions delved into current and emerging issues, such as retail competition, electricity market design and development, the impacts of Market Based Economic Dispatch (MBED) and Scheduling Capability and Expansion Determination (SCED) on energy prices, the economic implications of ISTS waivers, green trading, smart metering technologies, circular economy principles in the power sector, climate change considerations, and incentive structures. Agarwal sought detailed inputs on these issues. Professor Anoop Singh presented CER and EAL’s achievements and research focus areas. He also highlighted the Department of Management Sciences’ (DoMS) digital education initiatives, including online programs like the e-Master’s Degree in “Power Sector Regulation, Economics, and Management” and Regulatory Certification Programmes.