Tamil Nadu, which has been sanctioned the highest number (3 crore) of smart meters under Government of India’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), has so far installed not even one.  

Rajasthan and Punjab are the other large States that have made zero achievement so far under the scheme, said Ministry of Power in reply to Parliament questions.

So far, 19.79 crore smart meters have been sanctioned by the Central government; 72.97 lakh meters have been installed by various States so far, the highest being Assam, with 22.89 lakh meters, against the sanctioned 63.64 lakh. 

The scheme was launched by the Government of India, in July 2021. The main objective of the scheme is to support distribution utilities i.e. DISCOMs/Power Departments (PDs) to improve the operational efficiencies and financial sustainability of distribution sector to provide quality and reliable supply of power.   

The scheme is designed to “nudge” States to undertake necessary reforms, says a government statement. Central government assistance to is linked to the States’ performance “To bring in the much-needed financial discipline, there are pre-qualification criteria under the scheme which includes timely payment of subsidy and Government department dues, no fresh creation of regulatory assets, timely publishing of financial accounts, timely filing of tariff and true-up petitions and issuance of tariff and true up orders,” the statement says. 

States are required to installed smart meters under three categories – consumer, distribution transformer (DT) and feeder. The Central government has sanctioned 19.79 crore consumer meters, 52 lakh DT meters and 1.88 lakh feeder meters to all states. 

Tamil Nadu has been sanctioned 3 crore consumer meters, 4.72 lakh DT meters and 18,274 feeder meters. Against this, it has so far installed zero consumer, zero DT and 580 feeder meters. 

The RDSS is to run for five years between 2021-22 and 2025-26. 

There are financial implications for States that do not perform, as their allowance for additional borrowing, up to 0.5 per cent of State GDP, is linked to the performance. In the case of Tamil Nadu, it is estimated to work out to ₹20,000 crore. 

Smart meters are essential for both consumers and the electricity suppliers. They provide almost real-time data, remote monitoring and two-way communication capabilities. On the consumer side, they empower consumers to manage their consumption. For utilities, they are helpful in bringing down distribution losses and improving energy accounting—without any human intervention. 

Tamil Nadu’s State-owned utility, TANGEDCO is the highest loss-making electricity distribution company in India, with losses of ₹1.62 lakh crore in 2022-23; Rajasthan comes next with ₹92,070 crore.