Minister Manohar Lal Khattar emphasises for early installation of smart meters in government offices

New Delhi: Union Minister of Power and Housing and Urban Affairs, Manohar Lal Khattar, on Tuesday, emphasised for early installation of prepaid smart meters in all government establishments.

The minister was speaking at a meeting of the group of ministers constituted for addressing the issues related to viability of electricity distribution utilities.

The minister stressed the need for reducing the debt of distribution utilities and improving their efficiency to provide quality and reliable power supply to consumers.

He remarked that collaborative efforts by the central government, state governments and regulatory commissions are required to implement necessary reforms that ensure the viability of the power sector, a statement from the power ministry said.

The union minister urged the states to reaffirm the commitment of “Power for All, at All Times” in a manner that is efficient, environmentally sustainable, and cost-effective.

During the meeting, it was deliberated that the regulatory commissions must issue a full cost tariff, and the state governments may provide a subsidy if required.

It was deliberated that in order to ensure the timely resolution of issues and discourage motivated litigation, needful measures to encourage mediation mechanisms should be brought in the regulations.

"In view of the gravity of the debt situation, there was a felt need to recognise the debt of the distribution utilities as the liability of the State Governments," the statement said.

The key points of discussion included the role that the state governments and the regulators should play for ensuring cost reflective tariff, and for ensuring timely payment of subsidies and government department dues, expediting smart metering works, increasing the use of data analytics to improve power purchase optimisation and demand forecasting, etc.

The deliberations were also held for drafting the broad contours of the new scheme to be proposed by GoM for debt restructuring of distribution utilities.

The deliberations were also held for drafting the broad contours of the new scheme to be proposed by the GoM for debt restructuring of distribution utilities, the statement said.