Lok Sabha Question No. 2807 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-08
Subject: Cybersecurity of Power Grids
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Shri G M Harish Balayogi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.2807 ANSWERED ON 08.08.2024

## CYBERSECURITY OF POWER GRIDS

2807  SHRI G M HARISH BALAYOGI:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  into  cybersecurity provisions to protect power grids of the country;
- (b) if  so,  the  details  regarding  the  infrastructure  and  security  upgradation workings  undertaken  during  the  last  five  years  in  power  grids  across  the country, State-wise especially those in Andhra Pradesh;
- (c) the  details  regarding  the  cybersecurity  audits  of  power  grids  of  the country that have been undertaken during the last five years, year-wise;
- (d) whether there have been any incidents wherein the cybersecurity of the power  grids  in  the  country  have  been  compromised  due  to  cyber  security attacks and if so, the details thereof including the action taken in this regard; and
- (e) whether  the  Government  has  undertaken  any  awareness  campaign regarding the cybersecurity threat to power grids in the country and if so, the details thereof?

## A N S W E R

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER

(SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)

(a) : Central Government has taken several steps to ensure Cyber Security of the Power grid.  Under the Information Technology Act, 2000, Indian Computer Emergency  Response  Team  (CERT-In)  has  been  designated  as  the  national agency  for  responding  to  cyber  security  incidents.  Further,  National  Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre  (NCIIPC) has been established to

........2.

ensure protection of critical information infrastructure in the country including power  sector.  Computer  Security  Incident  Response  Team  Power  (CSIRT  Power)  has  been  established  in  April,  2023  exclusively  for  the  Power  Sector. Additionally,  Sectoral  Computer  Emergency  Response  Teams  (CERTs)  have been setup for Thermal, Hydro, Transmission, Distribution, Grid Operation and

Renewable Energy sectors.

- (b) : The  following  key  steps  have  been  taken  to  improve  cyber  security infrastructure relating to the power grid:
- (i) GRID-INDIA  has  established  a  Security  Operation  Centre  (SOC)  to monitor security events and incidents across Regional Load Despatch Centres (RLDCs) and National Load Despatch Centres (NLDC). Information Technology (IT) infrastructure of NLDC has been improved with advanced security features.
- (ii) A Security Operation Centre (SOC) has been set up in POWERGRID for 24X7 monitoring of critical assets.
- (iii) Several  IT  infrastructure  upgrades  have  been  performed  to  improve cyber security across multiple states in the past five years viz.,
- 
- Manipur SLDC - Two new firewalls and web servers commissioned.
-  Chhattisgarh SLDC - Network Management System (NMS) and next generation firewall implemented.
- 
- Kerala SLDC - Centralized End Point Protection implemented.
- 
- Bihar SLDC -Security Operation Centre (SOC) set up.
- Madhya  Pradesh,  Punjab,  Delhi  SLDCs  -  Next  generation  firewall
-  implemented and
-  11 SLDCs (Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Odisha, Nagaland, Arunachal  Pradesh,  Damodar  Valley  Corporation,  Tripura,  Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Bhakra Beas Management Board) have acquired ISO27001 (Information Security Management System) certification.
- (iv) Upgradation to the existing Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system in Andhra Pradesh SLDC is in progress. Firewalls for the IT infrastructure have been procured and commissioned.

(c) : As  of  March,  2024,  30  out  of  35  State  Load  Despatch  Centres managing  the  grid  operations  have  conducted  Vulnerability  Assessment  & Penetration  Testing  (VAPT)  cyber  security  audits  in  the  past five  years (Annexure).

(d) : No such cyber security incident has been reported which affected the operations of Indian Power Grid.

(e) : Workshops,  trainings,  awareness  sessions,  conferences  and  cyber security exercises are being organized regularly by various agencies including NCIIPC, CERT-IN and CSIRT-Power for utilities, industry and academia to spread awareness among the stakeholders. Cyber Jaagrukta Diwas is organized on first Wednesday  of  every  month  to create  cybersecurity  awareness  among  all employees. Power sector employees are also encouraged to obtain certifications and attend courses offered by agencies such as National Power Training Institute (NPTI) and Rashtriya Raksha University.

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## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  2807 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 08.08.2024

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## Grid Utilities - Status of VAPT Cyber Security Audit

|   Sl. No. | State/UT                                      | SLDCs                                                | Status (VAPT-Cyber Security Audit Done-Year)   |
|-----------|-----------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Punjab                                        | Punjab SLDC, Patiala                                 | 2021, 2022, 2023                               |
|         2 | Haryana                                       | Haryana SLDC, Panipat                                | 2021,2022, 2023                                |
|         3 | Himachal Pradesh                              | Himachal Pradesh SLDC, Shimla,                       | 2021,2022, 2023                                |
|         4 | J&K                                           | J&K SLDC - Jammu                                     | 2021,2022, 2023, 2024                          |
|         5 | Rajasthan                                     | Rajasthan SLDC, Jaipur                               | 2021,2022, 2023,2024                           |
|         6 | Uttar Pradesh                                 | Uttar Pradesh SLDC, Lucknow                          | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|         7 | Uttarakhand                                   | Uttarakhand SLDC, Dehradun                           | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|         8 | Delhi                                         | Delhi, SLDC New Delhi                                | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|         9 | Chandigarh                                    | Bhakra Beas Management Board SLDC Chandigarh         | 2021, 2022, 2023                               |
|        10 | Gujarat                                       | Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Limited SLDC | 2022, 2023, 2024                               |
|        11 | Chhattisgarh                                  | Chhattisgarh SLDC, Raipur                            | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        12 | Madhya Pradesh                                | Madhya Pradesh SLDC, Jabalpur                        | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        13 | Maharashtra                                   | Maharashtra SLDC, Navi Mumbai                        | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        14 | Goa                                           | Goa SLDC, Panaji                                     | 2021, 2022, 2023                               |
|        15 | U.T. of Dadra & Nagar Haveli.                 | Electricity Department, Daman & Diu                  | 2021, 2022, 2023                               |
|        16 | Andhra Pradesh                                | Andhra Pradesh SLDC, Vijayawada                      | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        17 | Karnataka                                     | Karnataka SLDC, Bangalore                            | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        18 | Kerala                                        | Kerala SLDC, Kalamassery, Cochin                     | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        19 | Tamilnadu                                     | Tamilnadu SLDC, Chennai                              | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        20 | Telangana                                     | Telangana SLDC, Hyderabad                            | 2021, 2022, 2024                               |
|        21 | Puducherry                                    | Puducherry SLDC, Puducherry                          | 2022, 2024                                     |
|        22 | Arunachal Pradesh                             | Arunachal Pradesh SLDC                               | 2022, 2023, 2024                               |
|        23 | Assam                                         | Assam,SLDC, Guwahati                                 | 2022, 2023, 2024                               |
|        24 | Manipur                                       | Manipur SLDC, lmphal                                 | 2022, 2023, 2024                               |
|        25 | Meghalaya                                     | Meghalaya SLDC, Shillong                             | 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                         |
|        26 | Mizoram                                       | Mizoram SLDC, Mizoram                                | 2022, 2023, 2024                               |
|        27 | Nagaland                                      | Nagaland SLDC, Dimapur                               |                                                |
|        28 | Tripura                                       | Tripura SLDC, Agartala                               |                                                |
|        29 | Bihar                                         | Bihar SLDC , Patna                                   |                                                |
|        30 | Jharkhand                                     | Jharkhand SLDC, Ranchi                               | 2020, 2022, 2023                               |
|        31 | West Bengal                                   | West Bengal SLDC, Howrah                             |                                                |
|        32 | Orissa                                        | Orissa SLDC, Bhubaneshwar                            | 2021, 2022, 2024                               |
|        33 | DVC                                           | DVC, SLDC, Howrah & Kolkata                          | 2021, 2022, 2023                               |
|        34 | Sikkim                                        | Sikkim SLDC, Gangtok                                 |                                                |
|        35 | India Limited (GRID- INDIA) 6 control centers | NLDC, NRLDC, SRLDC, WRLDC,ERLDC, NERLDC              | 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024                   |

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