India Emerges as Global Leader in Autonomous Energy Operations: Schneider Electric Report

Schneider Electric, has recently released India findings from its Global Autonomous Maturity Report, highlighting how the country’s energy sector is progressing toward autonomous operations. As India’s energy systems expand and become more complex, organisations are accelerating adoption of intelligent, self-managing technologies to improve resilience, reliability and efficiency.​​​​

The findings show that India has already reached a high level of maturity in autonomous operations. 48 percent of organisations report operating at Full Autonomy, compared to 31 percent globally, with a further 30 percent at Select Autonomy, signalling that autonomous systems are already embedded across a significant part of the sector.

More importantly, India is moving beyond adoption into scale and optimisation. 73 percent of organisations say their autonomy programmes are already complete or being maintained, compared to 29 percent globally, indicating a shift from early deployment to realising value at scale.

This momentum is expected to accelerate over the next five years. Organisations in India are targeting 73 percent Full Autonomy, significantly higher than the global average of 47 percent, reflecting a clear move toward fully autonomous, self-managing operations rather than incremental automation.

Deepak Sharma, MD & CEO, Zone President – Greater India, Schneider Electric, said, “India is at an important inflection point where autonomy is becoming central to how energy systems are designed and operated. As demand rises and systems become more distributed and complex, the ability to operate with greater intelligence, flexibility, and resilience will be critical.”

This shift is being driven by a strong strategic imperative. Organisations in India are placing greater emphasis on resilience and long-term competitiveness, with operational reliability emerging as the leading driver for autonomy adoption. At the same time, autonomy is increasingly being treated as a business priority, with 94 percent of organisations identifying it as a high priority over the next five years, rising to universal prioritisation over the next decade.

Technology is playing a critical enabling role in this transition. India is seeing strong adoption of digital foundations such as cloud and edge computing (64 percent), alongside AI and machine learning (52 percent), robotics (48 percent), and cybersecurity frameworks (45 percent), reflecting the importance of digital infrastructure in supporting autonomous operations.

Arvind Kakru, Vice President – Industrial Automation, Greater India, Schneider Electric, said, “What stands out is the focus on building a strong digital backbone to support autonomy. Bringing together data, intelligence, and automation in a connected and secure way will be key to enabling systems that can adapt in real time and deliver consistent performance.”

The findings also highlight the risks of delayed adoption. Organisations in India report heightened concerns around safety, cost and sustainability impacts if autonomy does not keep pace, reinforcing its role as a critical enabler of reliable and efficient energy systems.

As energy demand continues to grow across Asia, India is playing a central role in shaping the region’s transition toward more intelligent and resilient energy systems. With strong current maturity and ambitious future targets, the country is well positioned to lead the next phase of autonomous operations in the global energy sector.

The research was conducted in partnership with Censuswide and Development Economics, with inputs from independent energy market analyst Gaurav Sharma. It draws on responses from 400 senior decision-makers across 12 countries, with fieldwork carried out between September and October 2025.