KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Nov 18: Jharkhand Bijli Vitaran Nigam Ltd (JBVNL) is going to install smart meters for its consumers in and around the steel city soon.
Once the existing digital meters are replaced with smart meters, consumers will get the power supply on the basis of prepaid bills like one has to use a cell phone on prepaid basis.
Revealing the plan, general manager-cum-chief engineer of JBVNL’s Singhbhum area board, Paritosh Kumar informed that the work of replacing digital meters with smart meters has already started in Ranchi and the same will be starting in Jamshedpur in the next couple of months here also.
“The work of replacing the digital meters with smart meters in Ranchi is going on with the World Bank funding whereas in Jamshedpur along with other big cities in the state by a central government’s reform-based scheme — Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). A tender process for the ambitious project is in the offing, ” said Kumar while talking to lagatar24.com.
He pointed out that the work of replacement of meters under the RDSS will be done on a 60-40 basis, meaning 60 per cent of the project cost will be borne by the central government whereas the remaining 40 per cent is to be met by the state government.
He stated that the proposed smart meters will be installed on the premises of both domestic consumers as well as industrial consumers.
Kumar, on being queried, said that the installation of smart meters will bring the ordeals of meter-reading and delayed payment of power bills to an end, contributing to effective revenue generation.
He claimed that the power consumers will too benefit immensely as they would get a quality supply of electricity.
There are over four lakhs consumers in and around the steel city and about 1,500 industrial units under the Jamshedpur Circle of the JBVNL. Whereas the steel major Tata Steel’s subsidiary JUSCO provides electricity supply in the steel city, the JBVNL’s power supply goes to the city suburban areas like Mango, Govindpur, Bagbera, Birsanagar, Uliyan, Adityapur besides the Adityapur industrial area.
