New Delhi: The International Solar Alliance (ISA) convened a high-level session at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, in partnership with the Ministries of Power & Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India and REC Limited, to advance global dialogue on the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the clean energy transition. Titled ‘Global Mission on AI for Energy – Scaling through Citizen-Centric India Energy Stack,’ the session took place on 16 February as part of the ongoing India AI Impact Summit 2026
As countries worldwide accelerate their energy transitions, AI is emerging as a powerful enabler to improve energy planning, grid management, and service delivery—particularly in developing and emerging economies where access to reliable electricity remains uneven. This session explored how AI-driven solutions can help leapfrog traditional infrastructure pathways, reduce costs, and extend clean, affordable power, aiming to align policy, build capacity, strengthen data infrastructure, foster innovation, and mobilise finance to move from pilots to system-wide transformation. It also spotlighted the ISA-led Global Mission on AI for Energy, conceived as a collective effort to bring together governments, industry, financial institutions, and multilateral partners to build citizen-centric energy systems.
At a pre-Summit convening hosted by ISA in December 2025 in New Delhi, Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, had noted, “The Global Mission for AI for Energy that is being conceptualised gives a big opportunity for the developing countries including India, building locally tested AI products for the energy sector, ensuring that these products can ultimately create a whole set of opportunities for local enterprises in global south drive innovation and startups in countries like India to offer it to scale to the whole world. This is a very welcome step.”
During the session hosted at the India AI Impact Summit, in New Delhi, J.V. N. Subramanyam, Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India, noted, “India today stands at nearly 520GW of installed capacity, with over 52% from non-fossil sources and 140GW from solar. What is truly remarkable is the pace of distributed renewables, nearly 15GW of DRE added under PM SuryaGhar in just the last 18 months. What changed in India’s rooftop solar story was not intent, it was technology. By bringing consumers, vendors, banks and DISCOMs together on a single digital platform, we created trust, speed and scale. Distributed renewable energy is no longer a pilot, it is scaling at unprecedented speed, and the next frontier is intelligence. With millions of prosumers and bidirectional grids, AI will be the backbone that makes our energy ecosystem smarter, more resilient and truly participative. This mission has the potential to be a true game changer—demonstrating how digital public infrastructure and AI can enable countries to leapfrog legacy energy systems and accelerate the shift to a smarter, faster, and more inclusive clean energy future.”
Shashank Misra, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power, Government of India, observed, “India’s Energy Stack demonstrates how digital public infrastructure can transform the energy sector—by integrating data, markets, payments, and consumers into a unified, interoperable system. The ‘Global Mission on AI for Energy’, anchored by ISA – builds on this very principle, taking India’s experience to a global scale. By aligning AI with digital energy stacks, the Mission will help countries modernise grids, scale decentralised renewables, improve financial viability, and place citizens at the centre of the transition. Together, these approaches offer a powerful pathway for nations to leapfrog toward clean, resilient, and inclusive energy systems.”
Ashish Khanna, Director General, ISA, said, “The International Solar Alliance is working at the intersection of AI and energy because the scale of the transition has changed. Nearly 40% of the 1,000 GW of solar added globally in the last two years has been decentralised, placing new demands on grids and financial models. Digitisation and AI are therefore essential to efficiently and affordably scale decentralised clean energy, which can be a force multiplier for clean power, livelihoods, and citizen-centric growth. Through a Global Mission on AI for Energy, launching at the AI Summit, ISA will bring together policy, innovation, skills, and finance to ensure consumers benefit and that all 125 Member Countries can digitally leapfrog, leaving no one behind.”
The occasion also witnessed the launch of a report, ‘Smarter and Citizen-Centric Power for Shared Prosperity: Unleashing the Potential of Digitally and AI-Enabled Power Systems’, which spotlights the two transformative shifts currently underway: the clean energy revolution and the AI revolution. Put simply, the clean energy revolution cannot scale without digitalisation and AI, and the AI revolution cannot scale without affordable, accessible clean power. The report unwraps this virtuous cycle.
During the week-long Summit, ISA is also hosting a dedicated pavilion spotlighting the Global Mission for AI for Energy, alongside innovation models which provide operational proof-of-concept models that can inform replication across ISA Member Countries:
Digital Consumer Interface – One Solar App
Developed by BSES Rajdhani Power Limited (BRPL), the unified “One Solar App” streamlines rooftop solar adoption through digital registration, net-metering transparency, performance tracking, and service integration.
Digital Twin Solutions for DISCOMs
Indian startups are deploying digital twins—virtual replicas of distribution networks— to enable real-time simulation, renewable integration modelling, predictive maintenance, and scenario-based planning. These tools improve operational efficiency while reducing losses and investment risks.
GIS-Based Distribution Modernisation
Geospatial mapping initiatives, including those undertaken by Andhra Pradesh Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL), provide asset-level visibility and infrastructure optimisation. GIS-enabled planning strengthens outage management, capital allocation, and readiness for renewable integration.
This initiative underscores ISA’s commitment to harnessing innovation, partnerships, and technology to accelerate the deployment of clean energy solutions across its 120+ Member Countries, while ensuring that the benefits of AI-driven transformation reach communities and citizens at the grassroots. By convening policymakers, industry leaders, and energy stakeholders at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, ISA aims to translate ambition into coordinated global action—anchored in equity, sustainability, and shared prosperity.
