Centre may extend March 2026 deadline to install 25 crore smart meters

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India may not achieve the target of installing 25 crore smart meters by March 31, 2026 under the National Smart Grid Mission, which may result in a likely extension of the deadline by at least a year, senior officials from the Ministry of Power told Moneycontrol.

Until February 10, 2025, about 1 crore or only 5 percent smart meters were installed against the sanctioned 20 crore smart meters under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). The reasons for the slow progress of the mission range from delays in tender issuance to tepid response from consumers, officials have said.

The smart meter mission under RDSS aims to install 25 crore prepaid smart meters across India with the goal of improving operational efficiency and financial sustainability of electricity distribution companies (discoms).

“Smart meter installations are picking up pace now, but it is not possible to meet the 20 crore target under RDSS by March 2026. Therefore, the government is considering extending the deadline by a year or two,” said one of the officials quoted above.

Smart meters enable accurate energy consumption monitoring, reduce technical and commercial losses, and empower consumers through real-time usage data. The mission is funded through a combination of government support and private sector involvement, with a key feature being the ‘totex’ (total expenditure) model where a single agency manages the entire lifecycle of the smart meters, including installation, operation, and maintenance.

Data analysed by Moneycontrol showed that so far, only 18 or half of India’s 36 states and union territories have initiated smart meter installations under RDSS. Last month, the Karnataka government said it has decided to pull out of Centre’s RDS scheme, stating that it would install smart meters on its own.

Talking about the sluggish progress of the smart meter mission, Union Minister for Power Manohar Lal Khattar said the government is working closely with states to promote smart meter installations, including prepaid meters.

“The production capacity of smart meters in India currently is at around 20 crore per annum, against which the installation is only 3 crore per annum. We are working closely with the states urging them to offer incentives in the form of rebates to consumers for meter installations,” Khattar said.

A second senior official said smart meter being a new concept, there were delays in issue of tenders and establishment of direct debit facility. “Other reasons include collection and validation of data for consumer indexing; delays in testing and approvals like field installation and integration test, factory acceptance test and likewise. Besides, in some states there is a general reluctance from consumers too,” the official said.