Hitachi Energy India Flags Grid Expansion as Key Bottleneck for Power Growth.

Hitachi Energy India is witnessing a broad-based surge in demand for grid infrastructure, driven by rising investments in transmission, renewable energy, data centres, battery storage and emerging industries such as semiconductors.

The company’s order book has reached a record ₹32,000 crore, underscoring the growing need for power-grid equipment and solutions as India’s electricity demand and industrial activity expand.

N Venu, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Energy India, said the key challenge for the country is not necessarily competition between data centres and traditional industries for grid capacity, but the way grid infrastructure is planned and procured.

According to Venu, moving away from project-by-project procurement towards a programme-based approach could give utilities, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and the broader power ecosystem greater visibility into future requirements.

Such an approach would also allow companies across the supply chain to build manufacturing and infrastructure capacity ahead of demand, helping the grid keep pace with the country’s expanding energy needs.

The growing requirements from renewable-energy projects, data centres, battery storage and new-age industries are expected to further increase demand for transmission and grid infrastructure in the coming years.