Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has installed smart prepaid meters on the premises of a total of 2.69 crore consumers so far under the Government of India’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, stated an official release.
Notably, the Government of India issued the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) notification in 2021 to provide quality and uninterrupted power supply to the state’s consumers through an efficient and strong distribution system.
The Government seeks to bring down distribution losses from 12 to 15 per cent by 2024-25 through the scheme. Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd (UPPCL) Chairman M. Devraj informed that the Government of India has approved a total of Rs 18,885.48 crore for the installation of smart meters, of which 15 per cent of the sanctioned amount, i.e. Rs 2832.82 crore, is provided as a grant and the remaining amount, i.e., Rs 16,052.66 crore, will be funded by the State Government and the Distribution Corporation.
He informed that Rs 16,498.61 crore has been sanctioned by the Government of India for strengthening the power system and reducing distribution losses, of which 60 per cent ( Rs 9,899.17 crore) will be provided as a grant by the Government of India and the remaining 40 per cent (Rs 6,599.44 crore) by the state government and the distribution corporation.
For loss reductions, 2.71 lakh km of armoured cabling was used for providing connections, construction of 15,000 km of LT line with armoured cable, replacement of 1.18 lakh km of open wire LT line with AB cable, an extension of 35,000 km 11 KV lines, and 16,000 km 11 KV feeder separation works were carried out.
Rs 19,000 crores to be used for modernization of electricity distribution system
According to M Devraj, proposals worth Rs 18,916.20 crore have been sent to the Government of India for the modernization of the electricity distribution system and the approval is expected in the next financial year. Of this proposed amount, 60 per cent (Rs 11,349 crore) will be funded by the Government of India and the remaining 40 per cent (Rs 7,566.4 crore) will be funded by the state government and the distribution corporation.
The proposed main works of modernization include the construction of 593 new sub-stations of 33/11 KV, capacity enhancement of 1511 sub-stations of 33/11 KV, construction of about 10,000 km of new 33 KV lines, installation of 76,000 distribution transformers, construction of about 22,000 km 11 KV line, construction of about 15,000 km LT line, capacity enhancement work of one lakh distribution transformers and 14 SCADA/DMS in urban areas.