Time for a UPI model in India’s energy sector: Sujith Nair, co-founder, FIDE

Energy can go through a similar transformation. UPI’s success came from first principles thinking; rather than improving old systems, it built around what India already had: millions of mobile phones, inexpensive internet access, and growing comfort with QR codes. It asked the question of how we can make payments simple.

Now, we are asking a similar question in the energy world: given the rapid fall in solar prices, cheaper batteries, and the rise of smart digital devices, how can we make energy more distributed, reliable, and inclusive? Instead of central generation and passive consumption, can we build systems where everyone participates — producing, storing, and sharing energy?

That’s the spirit behind the phrase“Energy is the next UPI.” It’s about using digital public infrastructure principles like openness, interoperability, and inclusion in the sphere of energy.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: So, it is not about the tech alone, but about rethinking the entire ecosystem?

Sujith Nair: Technology is only an enabler. UPI worked because it reduced friction. It didn’t matter which bank or app you used; everything connected seamlessly.

Energy systems today have enormous friction. Generation companies, distribution utilities, and consumers operate in silos. Information doesn’t flow freely, so coordination is slow and expensive.

Imagine if every solar panel, EV charger, and battery could communicate using the same digital language. Utilities would instantly know where power is being generated or consumed. Consumers could automatically shift their usage to cheaper, cleaner hours. That’s when energy becomes participatory.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: People usually don’t think of the energy ecosystem as something they can participate in.

Sujith Nair: For most people, energy is invisible until there’s a blackout or a bill. But digital tools can make citizens active participants. For instance, if every home and office in Bengaluru raised its AC temperature by just two degrees during peak hours, the city could save more than sixty megawatts. That’s the output of a small power plant.

Similarly, electric-vehicle charging can automatically move to off-peak hours. Industrial refrigeration can stagger operations. And if digital platforms reward users for flexibility, people will participate.

Right now, coordination costs are huge because systems don’t talk to each other. Smart meters, building-management systems, and distribution companies use different standards. With a shared digital rail like UPI for energy, communication could become seamless.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Tell us about FIDE, what it does, and how it is part of this initiative?

Sujith Nair: FIDE was set up in 2019. Our goal was to create open, non-proprietary digital protocols that anyone could adopt. The Beckn Protocol emerged from that work.

Beckn is a simple but powerful idea: any consumer and any provider should be able to exchange value digitally without relying on a single intermediary platform. It’s the principle behind ONDC and Namma Yatri. In mobility, for example, a commuter can discover buses, metros, or ride-hailing options through any app, because they all speak the Beckn language.

Now we are applying the same thinking to energy. Two years ago, we began exploring how distributed energy: solar rooftops, EV chargers, and batteries could interoperate. That became the Unified Energy Interface (UEI). UEI allows energy players to coordinate digitally, just as UPI allows financial players to transact.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Explain the India Energy Stack. How far is it in the future?

Sujith Nair: The India Energy Stack (IES) is a national programme led by the Ministry of Power, supported by various partners. It aims to create a digital backbone for the entire power ecosystem. FIDE contributes to its design and vision.

The IES task force includes utilities, transmission companies, technology providers, and policy experts. We are currently in the consultation and architecture phase, mapping what digital standards and interfaces are needed, and how they can be adopted without disrupting existing systems.

Once in place, the IES will enable data and value to move seamlessly — from generators to transmission lines to distribution companies to end-users. It’s about reducing friction everywhere in the chain.

I am a member of the IES task force and FIDE is an active partner in this exercise to help shape the IES vision.

From the study, we could understand the care and concerns of digital transformation for each of the actors in the system. And now we are putting together an emerging framework for the IES architecture.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: What can an ordinary consumer of electricity expect?

Sujith Nair: Let’s imagine a future city. Your home’s smart meter communicates with the grid. During peak-demand hours, the utility sends a digital signal asking whether it can slightly delay your water heater or adjust your AC. If you opt for it, the system does it automatically, and you earn a credit on your bill. Multiply that across a million households, and the grid remains stable without building new capacity.

Industries can benefit too. A data centre could coordinate with renewable suppliers to time its heavy loads when solar output is highest. Municipal corporations could schedule water-pumping at night when tariffs are lower. All this requires data exchange — something the IES would make simple and secure.

Even rooftop solar owners will feel the impact. Today, utilities often don’t know how much solar energy is flowing into the grid. With IES protocols, that information becomes visible and usable in real time, allowing for better planning and pricing.

That’s what digital infrastructure does — it scales cooperation. Think of how UPI handles billions of transactions every month without anyone having to negotiate integrations. The same can happen with energy data and services.

Once utilities, devices, and producers speak a common language, everything becomes smoother: investments get deployed faster, renewable plants get connected sooner, and outages become rarer. It is about turning coordination cost into a coordination dividend.

For example, how do you supply power to these massive data centres coming up in Vizag and other places? And that too without compromising power for the rest of the industry or for domestic households.

If India aspires to have 1,800 gigawatts of renewable power by 2047 under Viksit Bharat, it means your grid must be built for that future.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Are there international examples we can learn from?

Sujith Nair: In California, Australia, and parts of Europe, we already see Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) systems that aggregate thousands of home batteries and rooftop panels to act like one big power source. They can inject energy when the grid is strained or absorb it when there’s excess.

However, these are mostly private or regional initiatives. What India is proposing is much larger, a public digital framework that anyone can use. We are not just connecting assets; we are creating open, interoperable rails that can support innovation at a national scale. You could think of it as creating an HTTPS-equivalent for energy, a common secure protocol layer that underpins everything above it.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Have pilots been executed?

Sujith Nair: Yes, under UEI, we have run pilots with EV-charging networks. Earlier, each operator had its own app and payment method. Users had to juggle five or six apps just to find a charger. Now, thanks to UEI’s open standards, any app can locate and pay for any participating charger. It’s a huge convenience boost and increases charger utilisation.

Currently, the UEI community is enabling roughly 17,000 transactions a day, and about 65 megawatt-hours of energy is traded. It includes EV charging, small-scale peer-to-peer energy exchange, and solar microgrids. These are modest numbers compared to national demand, but they prove the concept of interoperability.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: What hurdles remain before this vision becomes a reality?

Sujith Nair: The challenges are significant. India’s power sector is diverse and uneven. Some utilities are highly digitised, others still struggle with basic billing systems. Electricity is a state subject, so policies differ. We must design the stack to accommodate this diversity. That’s why it’s a consultative process.

The other big challenge is mindset. Digital transformation requires cultural change. Stakeholders must view openness as an opportunity, not as a threat. When UPI started, many banks worried about losing control, but they soon realised that interoperability increased their reach. The same will happen with energy if we communicate the benefits well.

Utilities, regulators, startups, and consumers all stand to gain. Shared data reduces inefficiency, attracts innovation, and improves reliability. Once people see the dividends, adoption will follow.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: Does this shift also support decentralisation?

Sujith Nair: The world is already decentralising energy. Solar rooftops, community microgrids, and battery storage are everywhere. But decentralisation without coordination creates chaos. The digital backbone brings harmony — it connects distributed resources to the central grid so they reinforce rather than destabilise each other.

Digital rails turn the patchwork of local systems into something cohesive at a national level. They allow small producers to participate because standards and protections are consistent. That is how decentralisation scales.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: And how does this digital coordination relate to sustainability goals and carbon markets?

Sujith Nair: That’s one of the most exciting aspects. If we can trace the source of every unit of electricity, we can make carbon accounting transparent and verifiable. For instance, an electric vehicle today may be charged from a grid still powered partly by coal. With digital provenance, we could certify whether that energy came from renewable sources — solar, wind, or hydro. That means companies could calculate and reduce their emissions instead of relying on estimates.

It also enables granular carbon markets. Imagine if every kilowatt-hour had a digital certificate indicating its carbon intensity. Then consumers, industries, or governments could choose greener power in real time, not through complicated paperwork. Manufacturers could use this to prove that their operations are genuinely low-carbon, attracting climate-conscious investors.

Governments could design smarter incentives because they would have transparent, verifiable data on how green the grid really is. Over time, this visibility changes behaviour. When carbon data becomes digital, sustainability becomes measurable.

Venkatesh Kannaiah: That could also support financing, right?

Sujith Nair: Green financing depends on trust. Banks and investors need verifiable proof that the projects they’re funding are genuinely renewable or energy-efficient. Digital traceability provides that assurance. It could make renewable lending easier and cheaper.

In the long run, an integrated digital grid could even support dynamic pricing of carbon or renewable energy credits.