The Uttar Pradesh government headed by 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.

The Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) notification was issued by the Government of India in 2021 to provide quality and uninterrupted power supply to the consumers of the state through an efficient and strong distribution system. The government seeks to bring down distribution losses from 12 per cent to 15 per cent by 2024-25 through the scheme.

Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) Chairman M Devraj informed that a total of Rs 18,885.48 crore had been approved by the Government of India for the installation of smart meters, of which 15 per cent of the sanctioned amount, i.e. Rs 2,832.82 crore, was provided as a grant and the remaining amount, i.e., Rs 16,052.66 crore, would be funded by the state government and the power distribution corporation.

He said that Rs 16,498.61 crore had 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) would be provided as grant by the Government of India and the remaining 40 per cent ( Rs 6,599.44 crore) by the state government and the power distribution corporation.

For loss reductions, 2.71 lakh km of armored cabling has been 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, extension of 35,000 km 11 KV lines, and 16,000 km 11 KV feeder separation works have been carried out.

According to Devraj, proposals worth Rs 18,916.20 crore have been sent to the Government of India for modernisation 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 modernisation include the construction of 593 new sub-stations of 33/11 KV, capacity enhancement of 1,511 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.