Lok Sabha Question No. 3938 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-19
Subject: Installation of Smart Meters under NSGM
Ministry: POWER
Asked by: Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Smt. Supriya Sule, Shri Sanjay Dina Patil, Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad, Shri Amar Sharadrao Kale, Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke, Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare, Shri Bajrang Manohar Sonwane

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3938 ANSWERED ON 19.12.2024

## INSTALLATION OF SMART METERS UNDER NSGM

3938.  SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH:

PROF. VARSHA EKNATH GAIKWAD:

SHRI BAJRANG MANOHAR SONWANE:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

SMT. SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI AMAR SHARADRAO KALE:

SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE:

SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL:

SHRI NILESH DNYANDEV LANKE:

Will the Minister of POWER

be pleased to state:

- (a) the objectives and key components of the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM);
- (b) the  impact  of  the  mission  on  improving  power  distribution  efficiency  in  the country;
- (c) the  details  of  the  technologies  such  as  smart  meters,  advanced  metering infrastructure, etc. being implemented under the said mission;
- (d) the impact of these technologies on energy management and consumption;
- (e) the details of the total number of smart meters installed across the country under the said mission;
- (f) the details of the States/cities where smart meters have been most successfully installed;
- (g) the details of the benefits observed from the installation of these smart meters in terms of accurate billing and energy savings;
- (h) the  key  achievements  of  NSGM  in  improving  grid  efficiency  and  power  quality; and
- (i) the challenges encountered in the implementation of the mission along with the corrective action taken to address the same?

## A N S W E R

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER

(SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK)

(a) to (h) : National  Smart  Grid  Mission  (NSGM)  was  established  by  Government  of India (GoI) in 2015 with an objective to plan and monitor the implementation of policies and programs related to Smart Grids in India.   NSGM was implemented through NSGM

Project Management Unit (NPMU). The scheme stands closed on 31. 03. 2024. The key components  of  the  mission  were  assistance  in  formulation  of  projects  including  prefeasibility studies, project appraisal, funding to projects, training and Capacity Building. NSGM contributed to development of Smart Metering ecosystem with indigenous smart meter  standard  IS16444  and  companion  standard  IS  15959  and  Advanced  Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP) bid documents for Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Design Build Finance Own Operate Transfer (DBFOOT) models.

Under NSGM, Smart Meter projects were implemented using Advanced Metering Infrastructure  (AMI)  technology  which  included  Smart  Metering,  Head  End  System, Meter Data Management System (MDMS) with multiple communication technologies viz. General packet radio service (GPRS)/Radio Frequency (RF) and Power Line Carrier (PLC) etc.

Under NSGM, 1,45,343 smart meters were successfully installed in the State of Rajasthan  (Baran,  Bharatpur,  Bundi,  Dholpur,  Jhalawar  and  Karauli  cities)  and  24,214 smart meters in Chandigarh.

One of the primary advantages of smart meters is their ability to provide accurate billing  information.  Smart  meters  eliminate  inaccuracies  due  to  manual  reading  by automatically recording and communicating the consumption data to the billing system of  distribution  utility.  It  helps  distribution  utilities  in  automatic  energy  accounting, improving load forecasting, reducing losses through improved billing and collection, etc.

In  Ajmer,  the  project  demonstrated  benefits  of  AMI  for  automatic  energy  audit and loss reduction analytics which includes energy theft monitoring and tamper alerts. A case study on the pilot project in AVVNL for 1,000 consumers on single feeder for the period  of  6  months  starting  October  2016,  highlighted  the  following  benefits  to  the DISCOM and the consumers:

- i. Improved customer satisfaction level with accurate billing, real time consumption information, outage notification (with mobile app).
- ii. Real-time  detection  and  recording  of  outages,  reduced  equipment  failurefaster fault detection and restoration.
- iii. Outage time reduction by 20%.
- iv. Reduction in failure rate of meters by 50%.
- v. Reduction in failure rate of transformers by 30%.
- vi. Automation of meter reading and meter punching with smart meter- removes cost of manual reading and punching.
- vii. Bill Generation Cycle Reduction from 14 Days to 5 Days.
- viii. Automatic DT wise energy audit identified high loss area for reducing losses.
- ix. AT&C loss reduction from 20% to 13.5%.
10. (i) : AMI,  being  new  technology,  there  were  challenges  in  availability  of  sufficient skilled manpower.

GoI facilitiated capacity building through institutions like Smart Grid Knowledge Centre  (SGKC),  Manesar  to  train  utility  professionals.  Around,  475  professional  were trained under NSGM.

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