EESL successfully installs 3 mn smart meters in five states, one UT

State-owned EESL announced it has installed over 3 mn smart prepaid meters across five states and union territory Andaman and Nicobar under its Smart Meter National Programme

State-owned Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) on Monday announced it has installed over 30 lakh smart prepaid meters across five states and union territory Andaman and Nicobar under its Smart Meter National Programme.

EESL has completed the installation of over 10.5 lakh smart meters in Bihar, 11.57 lakh smart meters in Uttar Pradesh, 1.24 lakh in Rajasthan, 5.3 lakh in Haryana, around 64,000 in NDMC area of Delhi and 74,000 smart meters in Andaman and Nicobar, the company said in a statement.

"The company has agreements with the state-designated agencies and utilities in these regions for the large-scale deployment of smart meters. EESL further aims to install a total of over 47 lakh smart meters by December 2023," it said.

These smart meters optimise the operational performance of power distribution companies (DISCOMs) by increasing the billing and collection efficiency, reducing the operation and maintenance cost, and enhancing the quality of service, EESL said.

"EESL is deploying India's first large-scale smart metering project under the Smart Meter National Programme (SMNP), in states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, New Delhi and Andaman. EESL has taken IoT services from BSNL, Jio and Vodafone Idea for the network connectivity in DISCOMs. We are also working in association with Larsen & Toubro Ltd (L&T), Robert Bosch and EDF energy, which provide unique system integration solutions," Arun Kumar Mishra, CEO of EESL, said.

According to its website, Smart Meter National Programme aims to replace 25 crore conventional meters with smart meters in India.

A smart meter is connected through a web-based monitoring system which will help to reduce commercial losses of utilities, enhance revenues and serve as an important tool in power sector reforms.

EESL is a joint venture of four power sector public sector undertakings NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation Limited, REC Limited and POWERGRID Corporation of India Limited. It focuses on solution-driven innovations in the power sector.