Cyber attack, sabotage behind 2020 Mumbai power outage: Raut

Mumbai, March 1

The massive power outage in Mumbai in October last year was caused by a “cyber attack and it was an act of sabotage”, Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut said on Monday, citing preliminary information.

On October 12, a grid failure in Mumbai resulted in a massive power outage, stopping trains on tracks, hampering those working from home amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and hitting the economic activity hard.

Interacting with mediapersons outside the Vidhan Bhavan here, Raut said the state government, the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) and the Central Electricity Authority had set up separate committees to probe the cause of the power outage and their reports have been received.

Read also: Cyber intel firm says Chinese hackers have infiltrated India's power sector

We had then complained to the cyber cell and their report is awaited. But the preliminary information I have, there definitely was a cyber attack and it was a sabotage, he said.

Raut, a Congress minister, did not share more details.

His comments came in the wake of a US company’s report claiming that amidst the border tension in Ladakh last year, a Chinese government-linked group of hackers targeted India’s critical power grid system through a malware.

The report raised suspicion whether the massive power outage in Mumbai was a result of the online intrusion. PTI