India’s new National Electricity Policy, explained | The Daily Brief #395

In today's episode of The Daily Brief, we cover 2 major stories shaping the Indian economy and global markets: 1. India’s Power Sector Reset: The Big Electricity Policy Shift India’s Draft National Electricity Policy 2026 signals a major shift in how the country produces, buys, and delivers power. The government wants to reduce expensive long-term coal power contracts, push electricity market mechanisms, and make room for more renewable energy like solar and wind. The policy also focuses on fixing financially stressed discoms, modernising state grids, separating grid operators from transmission builders, and boosting intra-state power lines where congestion is rising. Coal doesn’t disappear, but it moves into a supporting role while renewables, storage, and competitive bidding take centre stage — all aimed at lowering power costs and supporting India’s manufacturing ambitions. 2. Digital India’s Hidden Twist: Why Services Grow but Manufacturing Struggles India’s rapid digitalisation — accelerated after demonetisation and the rise of UPI — helped service-sector firms become more productive in digitally ready regions. But manufacturing firms in those same areas saw falling income and productivity. Research shows that services firms aggressively hired scarce tech (ICT) talent, pushing up wages and pulling skilled workers away from factories. As a result, digital growth ended up favouring services while manufacturing lagged, raising concerns for India’s goal of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse. The story highlights how skill shortages and labour market dynamics can shape who actually benefits from digital transformation. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:33 India’s big power sector overhaul 11:56 Digital India’s manufacturing problem 20:37 Tidbits Visit Coin by https://zerodha.com/open-account?c=ZM... Get smarter every day with our daily newsletter. Subscribe here: https://thedailybrief.zerodha.com/ Checkout Markets By Zeodha's Reddit here:   / marketsbyzerodha   Checkout The Chatter here: https://thechatterbyzerodha.substack.... Check out our latest newsletter "Aftermarket Report" here: https://aftermarketreport.substack.com/ Listen to this episode on your preferred podcast platform: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2SJiLdv... Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast... Disclaimer: Some image(s) may have been created using Al, no copyright infringement is intended. Note: This content is for informational purposes only. None of the stocks, brands or products mentioned are recommendations or endorsements.