Power ministry nudges PSUs to test one-day work-from-home option

New Delhi: The power ministry has advised its public sector undertakings (PSUs) to explore the possibility of allowing employees to work from home for one day a week, people aware of the development said.

According to the advisory, power sector PSUs have been asked to evaluate operational feasibility and, where possible, permit up to 20% of employees to work remotely on any given day, one of the persons said.

The power ministry oversees several central public sector enterprises, including NTPC, Power Grid Corporation of India, NHPC, REC, and Power Finance Corporation.


The development comes at a time when several organisations across sectors are reassessing hybrid work structures adopted during and after the pandemic, in the wake of the impact of the Iran war.

In other steps, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency, along with the power ministry, is undertaking a pilot behavioural change programme to encourage officers and officials of the ministry and its PSUs to use public transport and vehicles prudently.

Under the initiative called ‘RAHI - Action for High Efficiency Initiative’, all officials of the ministry, PSUs, and organisations under it will be encouraged to take part in the pilot, the ministry said on X.

A portal is being developed for the same, and officials wishing to participate can register all vehicles owned by them on the portal to be recognised under the initiative, it said.

According to one of the persons quoted above, as part of the scheme, a 10–20% reduction in vehicle usage will attract an incentive of Rs 500, a 21–30% reduction will earn Rs 1,000, a 31–40% reduction will fetch Rs 1,500, a 41–50% reduction will result in Rs 2,000, and over a 50% reduction in vehicle usage will attract an incentive of Rs 2,500.

Official cars have a log of usage that is maintained, which may enable monitoring behaviour change. However, it is not clear how the baseline for private vehicles would be determined, the person said.