Close to 22,500 smart meters were installed during January and February this year for the Rajasthan smart grid project, under the aegis of the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM).
According to recent official status reports of NSGM, a total of 22,437 smart meters were installed in the Rajasthan smart grid project during January and February 2022.
With this, the total smart meter deployment under the project has reached 101785, out of the total target of around 1.5 lakh consumers.
The Rajasthan smart grid project being implemented by state utility Jaipur Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Ltd (JVVNL) envisages advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) for around 1.5 lakh consumers in six urban towns of Baran, Bharatpur, Bundi, Dholpur, Jhalawar and Karauli.
The project costing Rs.87.43 crore entails Central government support of Rs.26.23 crore. Of this Central assistance, Rs.2.61 crore was released as of February 28, 2022.
Other NSGM projects
There are three smart grid projects under NSGM, the other two being Chandigarh (Sub-Division 5) and Chandigarh (complete city excluding Sub-Division 5).
The Chandigarh (SD-5) project envisages AMI, DTMU and SCADA functionalities, covering 29,433 consumers. As of February 28, 2022, a total of 20,772 smart meters were installed in field, including of 2792 meters installed in January and February 2022.
The Rs.28.58-crore project involves Central assistance of Rs.8.57 crore of which Rs.7.71 crore was released up to February 28, 2022.
The other Chandigarh smart grid project (entire city except SD-5) underwent revision in scope in June 2021. The revised cost was approved in December 2021 and the project has yet to see physical deployment of smart meters in field.
The Rs.131.14-crore project entails putting up AMI functionalities for around 1.84 lakh consumers. The Centre will assist the project to the tune of Rs.39.34 crore.
Also read: IPDS Covers Over 500 Towns In 2021, Despite Pandemic Restrictions
Two projects scrapped
At the outset, there were five smart grid projects under NSGM. During 2021, two projects – Rourkela (Odisha, 0.87 lakh consumers) and Ranchi (Jharkhand, 3.6 lakh consumers) – were abandoned.
Apart from NSGM, there are 10 smart grid projects under Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). All these stand commissioned, as of February 28, 2022.
Featured photograph (source: Tata Power) is for representation only
