Assam and Bihar are today the leading states with respect to smart meters installed under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), according to information tabled in Parliament recently.
A reply given in the Rajya Sabha on December 2, 2024, suggests that India’s total smart meter installations under RDSS currently stand at 75.43 lakh, which includes 72.97 lakh consumer meters, 1.83 lakh DT (distribution transformer) meters and 0.63 lakh feeder meters.
It is independently learnt that the total number of smart meters sanctioned so far under RDSS is around 20.33 crore. This implies that the achievement so far, with respect to meters installed, is currently 3.7 per cent..
Consumer meters
Assam currently is the leading state with 22.89 lakh consumer smart meters, followed by Bihar with 19.39 lakh and Madhya Pradesh with 10.13 lakh. These three states account for as much as 72 per cent of the total consumer smart meters installed in the country under RDSS, which stands at 72.97 lakh.
In Assam, nearly 80 per cent of the consumer meters installed are in rural areas. On the other hand, consumer meter installations in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are predominantly in urban areas.
From an all-India perspective, around 33 per cent of the consumer smart meters currently installed are in rural areas.
Tamil Nadu has the highest number of consumer smart meters sanctioned under RDSS, standing at around 3 crore but no physical installation has yet taken place., However, recent media reports indicate that Tamil Nadu will soon be finalizing the award of the first package of smart meters, comprising 80 lakh smart meters. Reports further suggest that Adani Energy Solutions Ltd has emerged L1 in this tender.
Speaking only of consumer meters, the currently achievement in terms of actual installations is less than 4 per cent.
DT and feeder meters
In terms of DT (distribution transformer) meters, a total of 1.83 lakh have been installed as against the sanctioned 5.22 lakh, under RDSS. Maharashtra leads with 50,042 DT smart meters followed by Assam with 38,047 meters (all in rural areas) and Gujarat with 30,593 installations. DT meter installations, at an all-India level, are currently in a 53:47 proportion with respect to rural and urban areas.
Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh have the highest feeder meter installations, and together account for nearly three-fourths of the country’s total.
RDSS outlay
As discussed in a recent special report, the value of projects sanctioned under RDSS stands at Rs.2,77,136 crore out of which Rs.1,30,671 crore is towards smart metering. The remaining will be used for infrastructure works for reducing distribution losses. The gross budgetary support (GBS) for smart metering is Rs.24,173 crore, representing 18 per cent of the total outlay. Much of the RDSS-related smart metering works is being done under the TOTEX (OPEX + CAPEX) model where the AMISP (advanced metering infrastructure service provider) finances the project with no immediate financial outgo by the state distribution utilities.
Non-RDSS smart metering
It may be noted that smart metering installation, albeit in small number, is also taking place through Central government schemes prevailing before the advent of RDSS. Besides, some state government utilities are also deploying smart meters, outside the scope of RDSS. With respect to consumer smart meters alone, it is estimated that nearly 90 per cent of the total smart meters sanctioned is under RDSS. However, in terms of actual installations, non-RDSS consumer smart meters currently account for 42 per cent of the total. However, this metric would go up as physical implementation of RDSS projects picks up.
Also read: Bihar and Assam lead in smart meter installations
Featured photograph (source: Polaris) is for representation only
