Nagaland to introduce prepaid meters for all under smart-meter project
The Nagaland Power Department said in a press release on Wednesday that prepaid meters will be installed for all categories of electricity consumers in the state as part of its smart metering system under government of India's plan to reform the power distribution sector.
The decision was taken keeping in light the growing distribution losses of the power department, in turn affecting the financial health and the operating margins of the department.
Earlier, the Power Department had installed about 1,100 prepaid meters, as a pilot scheme in the Marwari Patti area in Dimapur during the year 2013-14.
The Department further extended the installation to added areas within Kohima and Dimapur since October 2020. As many as 10,000 meters are being installed in Dimapur and another 9,000 in Kohima, as a part of the first phase.
The press release further added that the prepaid energy meters shall solve inaccurate billings and the resultant complications.
Meanwhile, the Chief Engineer of the Power Department of Nagaland, Er Moa Aier, maintained that with proper billing and collection, the financial health of the power sector can be improved, and power supply can become more stable.
The decision to install smart meters has been adopted by many states across the northeast. Last year, Meghalaya, in cooperation with the central government, also received a grant from the Asian Development Bank to install smart meters in the state to reduce distribution inefficiencies and improve financial health of the state's power department.
(Edited by Ridhika Joshi)
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