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New Delhi: Union Minister of Power Manohar Lal inaugurated the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Regulatory Affairs in the Power Sector at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi today, January 19.

The Centre jointly established by IIT Delhi, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and Grid Controller of India Ltd. (Grid India), marks an important step towards strengthening India’s regulatory capacity in a rapidly evolving power sector characterised by growing electricity demand, large-scale renewable energy integration, expanding power markets, and increasing use of digital technologies.

The Centre of Excellence is envisaged as a national-level hub for regulatory research, capacity building, advisory support and knowledge dissemination. By locating the Centre within a premier academic institution and anchoring it through close collaboration between the national power regulator and the system operator, the initiative brings together policy, regulation, system operations and academic research in a single institutional framework.

The Centre will work closely with CERC and Grid India to identify key regulatory and sectoral challenges, support capacity building and human resource development to strengthen institutional capabilities and promote effective knowledge management and dissemination. It will undertake cutting-edge research with access to global academic and policy networks, while also providing advisory and consultancy support to regulators and other power sector stakeholders.

While inaugurating the Centre at IIT Delhi today Manohar Lal said that as India moves towards clean energy, competitive markets and consumer-centric reforms, strong regulation backed by knowledge and research becomes essential. This Centre of Excellence at IIT Delhi will play a key role in supporting informed and forward-looking regulation, he said.

The work of the Centre of Excellence will directly support policy and regulatory decision-making by addressing the power sector trilemma of affordability, sustainability, and efficiency. It will strengthen institutional capacity within distribution utilities and regulatory commissions, and equip regulators and policymakers with robust analytical tools and India-wide system models to evaluate regulatory proposals through the lens of consumer welfare, system reliability, and investment signals. At the economy-wide level, the Centre will inform power sector reforms at a critical juncture, as solar and wind energy become mainstream and fundamentally reshape power system planning, operations, and regulatory frameworks.

Professor Rangan Banerjee, Director, IIT Delhi said that we are delighted to be partnering with CERC and GRID India for this new Centre. The Institute is keen to create new knowledge and analysis that will enable our electricity sector to be sustainable, affordable and future-ready. Together, we also hope to enable capacity building and enhancement of electricity regulatory organisations and power sector professionals.

Addressing the inaugural event at IIT Delhi, Jishnu Barua, Chairman, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, said that good regulation must be supported by sound analysis, data and long-term thinking. This Centre will help deepen regulatory research and strengthen evidence-based policymaking in the power sector.

Meanwhile, S C Saxena, Chairman and Managing Director, Grid Controller of India Ltd said that regulatory frameworks must be aligned with the realities of grid operation. Through this Centre, operational experience and system insights will directly inform regulatory research and market design.

Power Secretary Pankaj Agarwal complimented IIT-D, CERC and Grid Controller of India Ltd for setting up the Centre and said that it would play a crucial role in the development of the Power Sector in the country.

The CoE will focus on multidisciplinary research covering power sector regulations, market design, grid operations, energy transition challenges, decarbonisation pathways, digitalisation and emerging technologies such as energy storage, demand response and green hydrogen. It will also support regulators and system operators through evidence-based analytical inputs, while building long-term regulatory capacity through structured training programmes for sector professionals.

The partnership between CERC, Grid India and IIT Delhi represents a unique institutional model, bringing together regulatory leadership, operational expertise and academic excellence. Such collaboration is expected to contribute significantly to building robust, adaptive and future-ready regulatory frameworks for India’s power sector.