Modi govt’s ‘smart’ plan to check power theft, billing errors: Rs 1.5 lakh crore electricity meters

India’s nationwide roll-out of smart power meters, aimed at supporting ailing utilities and bolstering reliable electricity supply, will cost about 1.5 trillion rupees ($21 billion), according to a government estimate. The prepaid meters are expected to help to improve billing and collection, which are the most basic problems facing the country’s ailing distribution companies, known as discoms. These utilities, mostly controlled by their state governments, lose money because of poor billing and theft of power, which often leads to them delaying payments to generators and depriving their customers of reliable supplies.

The price tag estimated for the smart meters includes hardware, installation and operations, such as the system integration and data analysis, according to Power Secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai. The planned 250 million prepaid meters across the country will raise enough revenue to cover the costs and lead to some savings for state power distributors, Sahai said in an interview in New Delhi. The government will run an auction for the contract to install the meters, said Sahai, who called them a “game changer” for the sector.