It was revealed that the contracts had been awarded by Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam (MVVNL) and involved the installation of more than 5.1 million smart meters in key clusters, including Lucknow and Ayodhya/Devipatan, over the next 27 months.

According to the terms of the agreement, Polaris would be responsible for supplying, installing, commissioning, and maintaining smart meters across the consumer base in these clusters for the next decade.

The smart meters, as per the plan, would enable prepaid billing, real-time energy monitoring, accurate metering, and improved grid management capabilities.

The comprehensive initiative was said to fall under a design-build-finance-operate-own-transfer agreement.

In addition to the Uttar Pradesh project, Polaris had also received letters of award from West Bengal and Manipur, totalling over Rs 24 billion. These contracts aimed to oversee the installation of more than 2.3 million smart meters across these two states.

The implementation of smart meters was highlighted as a means for Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) to reduce losses and empower consumers. The introduction of smart prepaid meters was intended to provide consumers with better control over their energy consumption.

It was emphasised that, through real-time access to energy usage data, consumers could effectively monitor and manage their consumption patterns.