Hackers funded by the Chinese government have made two attempts to bring down Indian electricity distribution centres near Ladakh in the last eight months, Union Minister for Power and New & Renewable Energy RK Singh said on April 7.
Singh, while speaking on the sidelines of India Energy Spotlight, said the attempts made by the Chinese hackers were unsuccessful and that the government has improved its defenses to counter such cyber attacks.
He added that India is strengthening protocols against cyber attacks since 2018.
Earlier this week a report by Bloomberg claimed that Chinese hackers have launched a cyber-espionage attack against the Indian power sector in Ladakh.
A report by private intelligence firm Recorded Future quoted by Bloomberg said that Chinese state-sponsored hackers targeted Indian electricity distribution centres near Ladakh over the last eight months.
“In recent months, we observed likely network intrusions targeting at least 7 Indian State Load Despatch Centres (SLDCs) responsible for carrying out real-time operations for grid control and electricity dispatch within these respective states. Notably, this targeting has been geographically concentrated, with the identified SLDCs located in North India, in proximity to the disputed India-China border in Ladakh,” the firm said in its report.
The hacking group, named TAG-38, used malicious software ‘ShadowPad’ which was associated with China’s People’s Liberation Army and the Ministry of State Security, Recorded Future said in its report.
The power minister also said that India will soon invite bids for 2,000 MW offshore wind energy projects.
'Our journey is incomplete without offshore wind energy. We will bring bids for 1,000 MW in Gujarat and after that 1,000 MW in Tamil Nadu,'' Singh said.
The minister also asked international investors to come forward and invest in offshore wind tenders. He said that India also plans to invite bids for a nine-gigawatt electrolyzer manufacturing capacity to boost green hydrogen in the country.
When asked about the coal shortage at power plants, Singh said that India is capable of handling the coal stock situation and that shortage of coal supply in some states was only due to supply bottlenecks.
The minister added there was sufficient availability of power in India, and power cuts in Andhra Pradesh were only because of a lack of supply of power to states.
He added that there is sufficient generation capacity and that concerned states should have money to buy power.
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