Transmission, distribution & water.

Between the generator and the socket sit ~5 lakh circuit-km of high-voltage transmission lines, ~55 distribution utilities (discoms) selling ~1,350 billion units a year, and a retail business that loses ~15% of what it buys and recovers less than its cost from a third of its customers. Together with water supply, sewerage and waste - almost entirely municipal - the two activities carry an estimated ₹3.7 lakh crore of GVA (1.18% of national GVA), split T&D ₹2.4 lakh crore and water & waste ₹1.3 lakh crore. Value added is large in wages and depreciation and small in profit: state discoms' aggregate losses were ~₹0.6 lakh crore in FY25 before subsidies, with accumulated losses exceeding ₹6.5 lakh crore, while municipal water utilities recover only 30-60% of operating cost. The listed part of the industry is small and concentrated in one company, Power Grid; the investable story is capex - transmission build-out, smart meters, storage-linked grid assets and the Jal Jeevan Mission - rather than the operating economics of distribution or water, both of which remain almost entirely state- and municipally-owned.

Estimated GVA

3.7 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

of which T&D GVA

2.4 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

of which water & waste GVA

1.3 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

Discom sales

~1,350 billion units · FY26

Discom revenue (incl. ₹1.7 LC state subsidy)

~10 ₹ lakh crore · FY26

AT&C losses

15.5 % · FY25

Transmission network (220 kV+)

~5.0 lakh circuit-km · FY26

Transmission capex plan (CEA, FY23-32)

9.15 ₹ lakh crore