Lok Sabha Question No. 1807 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-29
Subject: Installation of Smart Meters
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Haji Fazlur Rehman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1807 TO BE ANSWERED ON 29.07.2021

## INSTALLATION OF SMART METERS

1807.  SHRI HAJI FAZLUR REHMAN:

Will the Minister of POWER

be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government proposes to install smart meters for power consumers across the country and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether the smart meters being installed in the State of Uttar Pradesh have many defects and their installation work has been discontinued in the recent past;

(c) if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the power consumers have to suffer financial loss in case of defects found in smart meters, if so, the details thereof and the action taken thereon; and

(e) the other steps taken/being taken by the Government to further improve the situation?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF POWER AND NEW & RENEWABLE ENERGY

(SHRI  R.K. SINGH)

(a) : Smart meters are being installed under various schemes of Government of India as well as by the State Utilities themselves. Government of India is providing funding  to  the  States  for  implementation  of  smart  metering  under  National  Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS). EESL is also implementing smart metering projects being launched by the DISCOMs at their own independent initiative in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, Rajasthan, A&N Islands,  Delhi  etc.  on  OPEX  basis  wherein  EESL  is  making  the  initial  capital expenditure  and  DISCOMs  are  paying  back  to  EESL  on  monthly  rental  basis.    Till date, approximately 25.71 lakh smart meters have been installed in various States under the aforesaid schemes of Government of India and the aforesaid projects of the DISCOMs.

Further,  under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme approved by the Government of India on 30.06.2021, it is envisaged to install approximately 10 crore prepaid Smart Meters by December 2023.

………2.

- (b) & (c) : Government  of  Uttar  Pradesh  has  reported  that  no  plug  and  play solutions were available at the inception stage of the project as the project in UP for installation of 40 lakh Smart Meters was the very first and the largest of its kind in the  country.  The  teething  problems  were  encountered  in  IT  components  of  Smart Metering  System.  As  a  result  of  this,  the  installation  of  smart  meters  has  been temporarily put on hold while the technical issues are being resolved.

(d) & (e) : State Government of Uttar Pradesh has reported that no financial loss was suffered by Power consumers in case of the reported cases of defective meters. The following steps have been taken by State Government of Uttar Pradesh in the matter:

- i. Security  Audit  of  IT  Infrastructure  by  'Standardisation  Testing  and  Quality Certification'  (STQC)  Directorate,  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information Technology, Government of India.
- ii. User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of AMI system is being conducted since 29 th December, 2020. Total 746 test cases were planned to test and all cases have been tested. UAT is expected to be completed by August, 2021.
- iii. Testing  of  randomly  selected  smart  meters  by  Central  Power  Research Institute (CPRI).  Initially one meter each from eight lots were tested.  Three meters passed in the test.  Out of the five lots where the sample meters were not  found  as  per  specification,  eight  meters  from  each  lot  (total  40)  were tested.  All these 40 meters were found as per specifications.  57 more meters have  been  further  tested  and  all  these  57  meters  have  been  found  as  per specifications.

The situation is being closely monitored not only at the DISCOM level but also in the monthly review at the level of the Ministry.

**************