According to the power company, there were plans to install smart meters in the homes of about six lakh 32 thousand electricity consumers in six districts of the state. Under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), smart meters were to be installed in one lakh 82 thousand consumers’ homes in Ambikapur, Korba, Raigad and Rajnandgaon. Later, Raipur and Bilaspur were also added for smart meters under the National Smart Grid Mission (NSGM) in the work plan. The power company sent a proposal in 2018 to install 3.34 lakh smart meters in both cities. The target was again increased to 4.5 lakhs by adding consumers to the scheme. The power company held six meetings with the central government between 2018 and 2020 regarding the scheme. The tender had to be canceled once to connect the two schemes. Plans were also changed and eventually the plan fell out of the power company. In such a situation, millions of electricity consumers have also been deprived of the smart meter scheme.
According to officials, the power company had a continuous meeting with the center regarding the smart meter. The matter was getting stuck in this amount. The first option was to give 30% of its share to the central government, so that work should start slowly and the state government should share its share as the plan progresses. At the same time, in the second option, the amount should be invested through the company. After repeated meetings, due to lack of consent, the procedural plan in the files eventually succumbed.
Leave a Reply