The board of directors of Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), in a recent meeting, approved investment of over Rs.4,000 crore in AMI projects.
In a stock exchange filing, PGCIL said that its board, which met on July 14, 2023, gave investment approval for implementation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) projects at an estimated cost of Rs.4,067.27 crore.
Though no details on the AMI projects were provided by PGCIL, it is learnt that the Central PSU was in talks with several state government for implementation of smart grid projects. In May this year, PGCIL CMD, K. Sreekant had said that it was in advanced stage of discussions with the Gujarat government for field deployment of around 67 lakh smart meters.
It is likely but not confirmed that this AMI project will be implemented by Powergrid Energy Services Ltd, a newly-created wholly-owned subsidiary of PGCIL, formed for undertaking non power-transmission related activities like consultancy, solar power, energy metering, O&M, etc.
Pilot Data Centre
The PGCIL board in the said meeting also approved investment of Rs.713.83 crore to establish a pilot data centre at PGCIL’s Manesar substation in Haryana. This data centre will be developed by Powergrid Teleservices Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PGCIL.
It may be mentioned that PGCIL hived off its telecommunication business into Powergrid Teleservices Ltd, the requisite approval for this transfer was provided by the PGCIL board in its meeting of July 14, 2023.
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