Smart meters are being installed under various schemes of the Centre as well as by the state utilities themselves.
About 37.33 lakh smart electricity meters have been installed across the country so far, Parliament was informed on Thursday. To date, approximately 37.33 lakh smart meters have been installed in various states under various schemes of the Government of India and discoms, Union Power Minister R K Singh stated in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
The government launched the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) on July 20, 2021, under which deployment of 25 crore smart prepaid meters for all domestic consumers have been envisaged till March 2025. Smart meters are being installed under various schemes of the Centre as well as by the state utilities themselves.
The Centre is providing funding to the states for the implementation of smart metering under the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).
EESL is also implementing smart metering projects being launched by the discoms at their independent initiative in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi etc., on OPEX basis.
Under this, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is making the initial capital expenditure and, the discoms are paid back to the company on a monthly rental basis.
The minister explained that there are several reasons for Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses, which also include metering related problems.
Prepaid system of metering minimises inefficiencies in the collection, while the smart feature in the prepaid smart metering allows a near real-time identification of loss pockets, while also giving consumers the freedom to plan their electricity usage as per their own needs and resources. This helps in the reduction of AT&C losses.
This also addresses the problems of consumers regarding wrong billing, getting reconnected after disconnection due to non-payment of bills and alleged unauthorised use of electricity in case of only on paper disconnection by field staff.
The government has been providing financial assistance under various schemes, including IPDS and NSGM. The RDSS envisages smart metering in the OPEX mode and provides financial support to discoms opting for prepaid smart metering.
Under the scheme, in "other than the Special Category States", 15 per cent (22.5 per cent in case of Special Category States) of the cost per meter worked out over the whole project period, subject to a maximum of Rs 900 (Rs 1,350 for the Special Category States) in case of consumer meters, will be funded. States/UTs would be incentivised for the deployment of prepaid smart meters by December 2023.
An incentive at the rate of 7.5 per cent of the cost per consumer meter worked out for the whole project or Rs 450 per consumer meter, whichever is lower, would be provided for the 'Other than Special Category States' for prepaid smart meters installed within the targeted timeline of the first phase, that is by December 2023.
The incentive for 'Special Category States' would be at the rate of 11.25 per cent of the cost per consumer meter worked out for the whole project or Rs 675 per consumer meter, whichever is lower.
For the purpose of execution of this scheme, all north-eastern states including Sikkim, as well as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep will be treated as Special Category States/UTs.
With PTI inputs.