GMR Power wins new contract for smart meters; stock hits 10% upper limit

Shares of GMR Power and Urban Infra were locked in the 10 per cent upper circuit at Rs 36.59 on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trades as of 11:39 AM; after the GMR Group received Letter of Intent (LOA) for a smart metering project worth of Rs 2,470 crore from Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited.

A combined 15.67 million equity shares changed hands and there were pending buy orders for 1.5 million shares on the NSE and BSE.

In an exchange filing, GMR Power said its subsidiary GMR Smart Electricity Distribution Private Limited (GSEDPL) has received LOA from Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited to implement smart metering project in the Dakshinanchal (Agra, and Aligarh zone) area of Uttar Pradesh.

GSEDPL will install, integrate and maintain 2.552 million smart meters in the given areas. The implementation tenure is expected to be 27 months from the date of execution of the contract and an operating period of 93 months. The total contract value (inclusive of GST) for Agra & Aligarh Zone is about Rs 2,469.71 crore, the company said. The project will be spanned over a period of 10 years.

Earlier on September 3, GMR Group had received Letter of Award (LOA) worth Rs 5,123 crore for smart metering project from Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited. The LOA is to implement smart metering project in the Purvanchal (Varanasi, Azamgarh zone and Prayagraj, Mirzapur zone) area of Uttar Pradesh. GSEDPL will install, integrate and maintain 5.017 million smart meters in the given area.

The company further said, the implementation tenure is expected to be 27 months from the date of execution of the contract and an operating period of 93 months. The total contract value (inclusive of GST) for Prayagraj & Mirzapur Zone is about Rs 2,386.72 crore and for Varanasi & Azamgarh Zone is about Rs 2,736.65 crore.

This Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project shall include Supply, Installation, Integration, Commissioning and Operation & Maintenance of smart meters on DBFOOT basis backed by state-of-the-art technology and software solutions for end-to-end automated system management. The project will be executed under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and is expected to reduce the AT&C losses in the designated area and improve operational and collection efficiency of UP Discoms.

Meanwhile, GMR has signed an MoU with the Uttar Pradesh Government for a total outlay of Rs 45,000 crore by 2028. This partnership will enable GMR to invest in several sectors, such as solar, energy efficiency, EV charging infrastructure, Green Hydrogen plants, data centres, and more.