India, March 17 -- Multiple giant screens dot the walls of the control room at Karnataka's State Load Despatch Centre (SLDC) in Bengaluru, glowing with live data streams-demand curves, frequency charts, transmission schedules. This monitoring centre under Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) was once a passive observational unit but is now an analytical command hub. It monitors, in real time, the state's power scenario-shortages, surges, demands, distribution and energy mix.

State government officials claim that till 2015, power cuts lasted one to two hours daily even in major cities like Bengaluru and up to six hours in rural areas. Hydropower, once the state's mainstay, dwindled due to erratic rainfall. Thermal plan...