A new order under the country’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme will see 7.6 million prepaid smart meters installed in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
GMR Smart Electricity Distribution Pvt Ltd (GSEDPL), a subsidiary of the GMR Group subsidiary GMR Power and Urban Infra Limited, has received a Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Indian Government to install and maintain almost 7.6 million prepaid smart meters.
The LOI will see GSEDPL implement the smart metering project in the Purvanchal (Varanasi, Azamgarh zone and Prayagraj, Mirzapur zone) and Dakshinanchal (Agra and Aligarh zone) areas of Uttar Pradesh for the respective distribution companies Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd.
They will install, integrate and maintain 75.69 lakh (7.569 million) smart meters in the given areas under the LOI over the next 10 years.
The LOI was issued in conclusion to an e-tender for different areas of Uttar Pradesh; GSEDPL participated and emerged as a winner.
An advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) project, the LOI extends to supply, installation, integration, commissioning and operation and maintenance of the smart meters.
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The project with a value of Rs75.93 billion (US$928 million) will be executed under the Indian Government’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which has two major components:
- Financial support for prepaid smart and system metering, as well as upgrading distribution infrastructure
- Training and capacity building alongside other enabling and supporting activities.
The smart meter rollout is expected to reduce AT&C (aggregate technical and commercial losses) in the designated areas and improve the operational and collection efficiencies of the two Uttar Pradesh discoms.
Additionally, as reported by Mint, the announcement saw the company’s shares spike by 20% and, on the technical front, their stock price rose 17% with the order and outperformed the sector by 16.1% in the past year.
The order is the latest from the country’s government, which has been greenlighting a slew of smart meter orders to enhance the electricity system.
The same week as the issuance of the LOI, Tata Power announced their win of an order for 1.86 million smart meters in eastern central India.
Also in Uttar Pradesh, earlier this year in April, smart metering company IntelliSmart won an order for 6.7 million smart meters, claiming the largest order of its kind the country had seen.
Updated 24 July 2023
