Central public sector unit ITI Ltd has emerged as the lowest (L1) bidder in the reverse auction conducted by Energy Efficiency Services Ltd (EESL) for the mega procurement drive of single-phase smart meters. Before the reverse auction, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was the lowest bidder.
Seven companies, including L&T, were invited to participate in the reverse auction. ITI’s quote, at Rs.2,503 per smart meter, was 8 per cent lower than the Rs.2,722 quoted by L&T. Genus Power and KEONICS followed ITI as second-lowest (L2) and third-lowest bidders (L2), respectively.
At Rs.2,503 per meter, the total cost of procuring 50 lakh smart meter is around Rs.1,250 crore.
What next?
As per the tender conditions, EESL will now invite the L2 and L3 bidders to match the price quoted by ITI, which is Rs.2503 per meter. If they agree, the entire procurement of 50 lakh meters will be split amongst the three suppliers—ITI, Genus Power and KEONICS—in the ratio of 50:30:20.
The meters will be installed over a period of three years in a phased manner in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with UP getting around 80 per cent of the total installations. This mega smart meter rollout will be the single-largest in the world, in terms of number of meters installed, it is learnt. The total value of the mass procurement is around Rs.1,250 crore.
System integrator
One reason why the smart meter tender got such aggressive bids was due to the fact that EESL decided to tender the equipment (smart meter) and the integrator separately. The system integrator, for which bids are expected to open on October 31, 2017, will be responsible for meter installation, data storage on cloud, preparing dashboards, etc. The smart meters and their system-integration form part of the overall Advanced Metering Infrastructure Solutions (AMI) that is aimed at better demand response and to reduce energy consumption during peak hours.
Utilities need not pay upfront
Power utilities, for whom the smart meters are ultimately being installed, need not make any investment. Utilities will repay EESL through savings resulting from enhanced billing efficiency, obviation of meter reading costs, etc.
Photograph for illustration only
