Smart without the local? Experimenting with smart grids in India’s urban energy transitions

Source abstract

India’s urban energy systems face significant challenges in modernizing electricity distribution networks while integrating emerging technologies for decarbonization. Smart grids, promoted under the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM), have been positioned as key instruments to digitalize and reform this sector. Yet their contribution to urban energy transitions remains unclear. This paper examines how smart grid projects were embedded in urban contexts and what forms of governance reconfiguration they produced, drawing on Assemblage Theory and comparative case studies of three NSGM projects in Panipat, Guwahati, and Mysuru. The findings show that while the projects were installed within urban distribution infrastructures, they were only weakly embedded into broader urban governance contexts and local problem constellations, rendering them largely unstable as urban interventions. At the same time, the projects facilitated a subtle functional reorganization of the distribution sector at the urban scale, shifting key responsibilities from public distribution companies to private system integrators through ICT-driven technologies and operational processes. Given the instability of the projects, the findings suggest that sustainable urban energy transitions require deeper urban embedding, strengthened public-sector capacities, and deliberate alignment with localized problem-solving strategies.