Lok Sabha Question No. 1854 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-11
Subject: Cyber Security Measures to Safeguard the Country’s Power Grids
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Shri Parshottambhai Rupala

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1854 ANSWERED ON 11.12.2025

## CYBER SECURITY MEASURES TO SAFEGUARD THE COUNTRY'S POWER GRIDS

1854.  SHRI PARSHOTTAMBHAI RUPALA:

Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government  has carried out  any research  or  study  on  cyber security  measures to safeguard the country's power grids from potential cyber threats  and  attacks,  if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  the  infrastructure  and security upgrades implemented in power grids across the country during the last five years particularly in the State of Gujarat;
- (b) whether the cyber security audits were conducted on the country's power grids during the last five years and if so, the details thereof, year-wise; and
- (c) whether  there  have  been  any  instances  of  cyber  security  breaches  or attempted cyber attacks on the country's power grids during this period and if so, the details thereof along with the remedial and preventive measures taken by the Government?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER

(SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)

(a)& (c) :  The POWERGRID Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Cybersecurity at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has been established to promote research and  development  in  cybersecurity,  particularly  for  power  grid  operations  and transmission systems.

Central  Electricity  Authority  (CEA)  issued  the Cyber  Security  in  Power  Sector Guidelines,  2021  to  ensure  a  cyber-secure  power  ecosystem.  These  guidelines provide a comprehensive cyber assurance framework and strengthen the cybersecurity governance structure across all entities in the power sector. Further, the Draft Central Electricity Authority (Cyber Security in Power Sector) Regulations, 2025 are under finalization to establish a detailed cybersecurity framework for the power sector.

Ministry  of  Power  (MoP)  established  the  Computer  Security  Incident  Response Team - Power (CSIRT-Power) at CEA on 5 th  April, 2023 as an extended arm of CERTIn.  CSIRT-Power  supports  utilities  in  detecting,  responding  to,  managing  cyber incidents, and in improving overall cybersecurity preparedness. In addition, MoP has constituted six sub-sectoral Computer Emergency Response Teams (CERTs): (Thermal, Hydro, Transmission, Grid Operation, Renewable Energy, and Distribution). Each sub-sectoral CERT has been mandated to prepare a sub-sectorspecific model Cyber Crisis Management Plan (C-CMP) for coordinated response and mitigation in the event of cyber-attacks.

As  per  the  information  submitted  by  Gujarat  Energy  Transmission  Corporation Limited (GETCO), in the State of Gujarat, a comprehensive  cybersecurity framework  has  been  implemented,  including  stricter  access  controls,  endpoint protection, reduced system exposure, secure encrypted communication, deployment of next-generation firewalls between Remote Control Centres and the State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC), and installation of required antivirus solutions for malware protection.

In the past five years, no cybersecurity breaches or successful cyber-attacks have been reported in the operational systems of the National Load Despatch Centre.

(b) : Cybersecurity audits are conducted periodically across the power sector in accordance with the Central Electricity Authority (Cyber Security in Power Sector) Guidelines, 2021. These audits are carried out by third-party cybersecurity auditors empaneled by CERT-In. In the past five years, 9 assessments of the Information Technology infrastructure (IT) and 5 assessments of the Operational Technology (OT) infrastructure have been carried out at the National Load Despatch Centre. Details are enclosed at Annexure.

Similarly, cybersecurity audits are periodically conducted by CERT-In empaneled auditors  across  all  SLDCs,  covering  both  IT  and  OT  infrastructure,  including Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, the Unified Real-Time Dynamic State Measurement (URTDSM) system, and other critical assets.

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Annexure ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (b) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1854 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 11.12.2025

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National Load Despatch Centre

| Financial Year (FY)   | IT (Month & Year)                          | Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (Month & Year)   |
|-----------------------|--------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| F.Y. 2025-26          | September-25 (Cycle-1)                     | June-25                                                          |
| F.Y. 2024-25          | April-24 (Cycle-1), January-25 (Cycle-2)   | June-24                                                          |
| F.Y. 2023-24          | August-23 (Cycle-1), March-24 (Cycle-2)    | May-23                                                           |
| F.Y. 2022-23          | July-22 (Cycle-1), January-23 (Cycle-2)    | September-22                                                     |
| F.Y. 2021-22          | August-21 (Cycle-1), February-22 (Cycle-2) | Project Under Upgradation                                        |

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