Budget 2020: Smart meters to plug leaks in supply, revenue
NEW DELHI : Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday urged states and Union territories to replace conventional electricity meters with prepaid smart meters in three years, with the aim of cutting distribution losses and setting the stage for separating the carriage and content operations of power distribution companies (discoms).
Carriage refers to the distribution aspect and content to power.
India’s average aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses are at 21.4%, pushing up the dues of discoms to power generating companies to ₹72,938 crore at the end of November. Smart meters minimize human intervention in metering, billing and collection, and help reduce theft by identifying loss pockets.
