Over 20 crore smart prepaid meters have been sanctioned so far under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), according to information recently tabled in Parliament.
According to a written reply by Union power minister, R.K. Singh, given in the Lok Sabha on February 9, 2023, a total of 20.46 crore smart meters were sanctioned under RDSS thus far.
The reply also stated that so far 16 meetings of the Monitoring Committee of RDSS have been held since the formal approval of the scheme in July 2021. The action plans and detailed project reports (DPRs) of 46 power distribution companies (discoms) spread over 28 states and UTs have been approved.
It may be mentioned that RDSS relates to only to state government-owned discoms. States or areas within states where power distribution is handled by private utilities or public-private partnerships (where the private sector is a majority partner) are not in the purview of RDSS. This explains why Odisha and NCT of Delhi are entirely out of the RDSS ambit.
DT and feeder meters
In addition to the 20.46 crore smart prepaid meters, RDSS has also sanctioned so far a total of 10.87 lakh DT (distribution transformer) meters and 46,030 feeder meters. These DT and feeder meters form part of the distribution infrastructure upgrade as envisaged under “Part A” of the RDSS. Incidentally, “Part B” entails training & capacity building and other enabling & supporting activities.
Here are some highlights based on the state-wise distribution of consumer, DT and feeder meters sanctioned so far:
- Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned 3 crore prepaid smart meters at the consumer level. This is the highest for any state, and accounts for nearly 15 per cent of the nationwide total of prepaid smart consumer meters.
- Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal rank second, third and fourth, respectively, in terms of consumer meters sanctioned. Each of these states had over 2 crore of such meters sanctioned.
- In terms of DT meters sanctioned, Uttar Pradesh topped with a whopping 15.27 lakh meters accounting for nearly 30 per cent of India’s total. Tamil Nadu came a distant second with 4.72 lakh DT meters, followed by Rajasthan with 4.35 lakh.
- The top ten states with respect to consumer smart meters accounted for 85.3 per cent of the total number of such meters sanctioned at the national level. These ten states also had a share of 80 per cent and 77 per cent in terms of DT meters and feeder meters, respectively.
Merger of schemes
It may be noted that all schemes that fell under the erstwhile Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP)-2015 have been subsumed under RDSS. No new projects are therefore sanctioned under these schemes. However, in some cases like projects sanctioned for Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) under IPDS and projects sanctioned under PMDP-2015 will get funds under RDSS, up to March 31, 2023. PMDP-2015 is a scheme directed towards overall infrastructure in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir.
Also read: Over 17 Crore Prepaid Smart Meters Sanctioned Under RDSS So Far
Overview of RDSS
The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme has a total outlay of Rs.3,03,758 crore inclusive of gross budgetary support (GBS) of Rs.97,631 crore. The scheme will run for five years from FY22 to FY26. By current thinking, RDSS will therefore close by March 31, 2026. RDSS aims to bring down AT&C losses, at the pan-India level, to the range of 12-15 per cent. It also seeks to completely eliminate the gap between Average Cost of Supply (ACS) and Average Revenue Realized (ARR) by March 31, 2025. RDSS envisages the deployment of around 25 crore smart prepaid meters nationwide, out of which over 20 crore have been sanctioned so far, as discussed in this story.
Featured photograph is for representation only
