Abrar Nabi
Jammu, Feb 11 ; The Jammu and Kashmir administration has installed more than 12.36 lakh smart electricity meters across the union territory under central schemes, the government informed the legislative assembly on Wednesday.
The data was shared by the Jammu and Kashmir Power Development Department (PDD) as per news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS) in a written reply to a question from legislator Waheed-Ur-Rehman Para.
The installation is being carried out under the Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) and the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), with REC Power Development and Consultancy Limited (RECPDCL) as the lead implementation agency.
According to the district-wise data accessed news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS), a total of 6,27,492 smart meters have been installed in the Jammu division, with the highest number in Jammu district (3,04,468), followed by Samba (58,707) and Kathua (57,320).
In the Kashmir division, 6,09,015 meters have been installed. Srinagar leads with 2,39,147 installations, followed by Baramulla (87,732) and Anantnag (77,943).
The department also stated that 1,600 smart feeder meters have been installed on 11kV feeders across ten districts of the Jammu division.
In response to a query, the PDD clarified that the smart meters adhere to the national standards and specifications prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
Notably, The smart metering initiative is a nationwide programme aimed at improving billing efficiency and reducing aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses in the power sector. (KNS)
