The role of metering in India has evolved significantly over the years. Besides helping utilities in revenue management, it plays a crucial role in loss reduction, demand management and energy accounting. In the past couple of years, metering has been a key focus area of the government. Utilities across the power, gas and water sectors have begun deploying advanced metering infrastructure as part of various ongoing government schemes and programmes.
In the power sector, programmes such as the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana, the Integrated Power Development Scheme and the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana focus on achieving 100 per cent metering. At an all-India level, around 89 per cent of consumers are metered and more than half of the public discoms have achieved over 90 per cent consumer metering.
In the water sector too, centrally sponsored programmes such as the Smart Cities Mission and the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation place major emphasis on enhancing metering coverage. City governments are also actively seeking private sector participation in this space. Cities like Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi and Hyderabad have adopted advanced metering technologies for strengthening the water distribution system.
CGD utilities are also at different stages of implementing advanced metering solutions. Gujarat has been at the forefront of taking initiatives in improving gas metering, with the achievements of Gujarat Gas, Sabarmati Gas Limited and Adani Gas being particularly notable. Other utilities that have achieved considerable achievement in this field include Indraprastha Gas Limited, GAIL Gas, Mahanagar Gas Limited and Central U.P. Gas Limited. Going forward, 100 per cent metering coverage is expected to be the key focus area of utilities.
Overall, the metering segment will offer significant market opportunities for meter manufacturers and ancillary equipment suppliers across the power, water and CGD sectors. Smart metering technologies will be another big area of opportunity in the metering segment.
This issue of Smart Utilities highlights the experience of utilities in implementing metering technologies. It also presents the viewpoint of the Ministry of Power on the role of metering in providing better services to customers. The metering practices adopted by various water and gas distribution utilities have also been showcased. In addition, it discusses the customer relationship management solutions adopted by IGL and Adani Gas, and highlights the e-governance initiatives undertaken by utilities in Delhi, Kanpur and Chandigarh.