From Vision to Reality: Smart Meter Deployments in India

There has been a recent surge in smart meter (Electricity) deployment contracts in India thanks to the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) which is encouraging regional Power Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) to deploy these meters. In July 2023, contracts worth over US$1.14 billion were awarded by regional DISCOMs for the installation and management of approximately 10 million smart meters. The contracts awarded under RDSS will include both capital and operational expenditure under the DBFOOT (Design, Build, Finance, Own, Operate, and Transfer) model. Two of the largest contracts are as follows:

1) GMR Smart Electricity Distribution(7.5 million Units): In July announced winning a ~US$927 million contract with 2 regional DISCOMs in the state of Uttar Pradesh to design, implement and manage 7.5 million smart meters. The contract includes both the implementation and management of the smart meters and also includes distribution transformers and feeders for an aggregate period of 10 years.?

2) Tata Power(1.86 Million units): On the 12th of July announced winning a US$212 Million contract to install 1.86 million smart meters for a DISCOM in the state of Chattisgarh .

As per the latest data released by the Ministry of Power under the National Smart Grid Mission, as of July 2023, out of a total of 230 million consumer metering points, regional Discoms have awarded contracts for the installation of 56.23 million smart meters. Of all the government initiatives, RDSS has accounted for more than 43 million smart meter deployment contracts awarded since the start of 2023. However, as of July, only 6.775 million smart meters have been installed.

Challenges such as cost barriers, component shortages, and domestic manufacturing limitations have posed obstacles to the swift and comprehensive rollout of smart meters in the region. Despite these hurdles, the Indian government's proactive support (both in terms of regulations and financial funding) has spurred local manufacturing and technological development, enabling the domestic industry to play a pivotal role in meeting the ambitious smart meter deployment targets.

1. Isquared Capital, which acquired Polaris smart metering Pte (Singapore-based OEM) announced an investment of US$100 million to expand its smart meter manufacturing capacity in India. Polaris which currently claims to have a capacity of up to 3 million smart meters per year, plans to more than triple its production to 10 million meters/year by the end of 2024.?
2. IGL and Genesis Gas Solutions have formed a joint venture to establish a manufacturing plant for smart meters. This plant will have the capacity to produce 1 million meters each year and is expected to become operational in April 2023. It is worth noting that Genesis is a local distributor of Hangzhou Beta Meter Co. Ltd and has already deployed around 700,000 smart gas meters that use LoRaWAN technology. The new plant will manufacture Diaphragm gas meters that support different LPWA network technologies such as LoRa, NFC, NB-IOT, and Bluetooth.
3. The Japanese Semiconductor company, Renesas, which yesterday announced its plans to acquire cellular LPWAN IC vendor Sequans for $249 million, had only a few months back launched the new RH1NS200 an LTE NB-IoT modem chipset targeting the smart metering market. The new chipset built for the Indian market has been designed to operate seamlessly across all Indian telecom operators. The chipset supports Low PSM (Power Saving Mode) of 1μA in deep sleep with longer eDRX cycles an essential feature for field devices that require battery autonomy of over 10+ years.?

As India continues its journey towards completing the smart meter rollout by 2025/26, the intersection of policy support, industry innovation, and strategic collaborations will play a critical role in shaping the nation's smart grid infrastructure. However, its worth noting the Ministry of Power has not published any guidelines or technical specifications for the smart meters or for meter data collection, storage, processing and management. The lack of standardized technical specifications can significantly impact large-scale deployment projects, particularly in complex and technologically diverse initiatives like smart meter rollouts. India has nearly 62 DISCOMs operating, and in some regions, serviced by two or more DISCOMs .

A comprehensive set of technical specifications for automated metering infrastructure would have provided a common implementation framework to ensure that various components, systems and data architectures are interoperable with each other. If the specifications for smart meters were standardized, it would have ensured consistent implementation of smart meters across all regional DISCOMs.This would have also streamlined the procurement of hardware and software, maintenance of field infrastructure, availability of parts and repairs, training, change management, data management and ultimately lead to a reduced overall total cost of ownership due to economies of scale.

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Sources:

1. https://www.gmrgroup.in/media/gmr-smart-electricity-distribution-company-secures-rs-7593-crores-order-for-smart-metering-project.aspx
2. https://www.tatapower.com/media/PressReleaseDetails/2036/tata-power-receives-order-worth-rs-1744-crore-to-implement-smart-metering-project-in-chhattisgarh-state-power-distribution-company-limited
3. https://www.grampower.com/static/pdf/ISQ%20News.pdf
4. https://www.bseindia.com/xml-data/corpfiling/AttachHis/e4a23143-3de4-4283-9b0a-e9e33a2d860a.pdf
5. https://www.renesas.com/us/en/about/press-room/renesas-expands-focus-india-new-nb-iot-solution?gclid=Cj0KCQjwz8emBhDrARIsANNJjS5t6aUk-dFkZXhuWdEy0hxP6B-lIF2-UJfP5Sk54qtFhPjdxCJYKi4aAk7oEALw_wcB