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All Electricity Meters To Be Smart Prepaid In Three Years, Says Power Minister

Electricity meters to be smart prepaid in the next three years, says power minister. 

A board of power meters hang in a shop in New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Adam Ferguson/Bloomberg News)  
A board of power meters hang in a shop in New Delhi, India. (Photographer: Adam Ferguson/Bloomberg News)  

Power Minister RK Singh today said all electricity meters in the country will be smart prepaid meters in the next three years.

“In the next three years, metering will go smart...and gone will be the days of bills reaching your house. So need of the hour is to scale up manufacturing of smart prepaid meters and to bring down their prices.” Singh said.

He was addressing a meeting with meter manufacturers in New Delhi. The minister advised them to scale up the manufacturing of smart prepaid meters as the demand would go up in the coming years.

Singh also advised the officials of the ministry to consider making such meters mandatory after a particular date.

This will revolutionise the power sector by way of reduced AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial) losses, better health of discoms, incentivisation of energy conservation and ease of bill payments etc. Further, it will generate employment for skilled youth, a statement from the ministry said.

The meeting discussed various aspects of smart meters like BIS certification, compatibility with RF/GPRS, harmonisation with existing digital infrastructure. Power Secretary AK Bhalla and Additional Power Secretary Sanjiv Nandan Sahai were among other officials present in the meeting.

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